Vnesheconombank (VEB) has confirmed its intention to buy a 10% stake in Sukhoi Civil Aircraft, a subsidiary of the state-owned Sukhoi holding, a senior official of the state-controlled bank said Friday.
Sergei Lykov, deputy chairman of VEB, said the deal would be concluded following the creation of the Development Bank, VEB's successor, adding that would most likely happen in August.
The new bank will become the main financial tool for state support for exports and borrowing in non-mineral sectors, with charter capital of over $2 billion, the Russian economics minister said in December last year.
Sukhoi Civil Aircraft Vice-President Maxim Grishanin said in February the company was holding talks with Italy's Alenia Aeronautica on the purchase of 25% plus one share in the Russian aircraft manufacturer.
If all deals go through, the current shareholders will secure a 51% stake in the company, while Alenia Aeronautica will hold 25% plus one share and VEB will control 10%, leaving about 15% of the stake to other investors.
He also said Vnesheconombank could increase its equity in the company by buying out the remaining stock.
VEB said previously it had secured a $33.2-million loan from Deutsche Bank to finance Sukhoi's SuperJet 100 project in Russia.
The SuperJet 100 project is a family of medium-range passenger aircraft developed by Sukhoi in cooperation with Russia's Ilyushin planemaker and major American and European aviation corporations, including Boeing, Snecma, Thales, Messier Dowty, Liebherr Aerospace, and Honeywell.
Serial production of the SuperJet 100, with an average flight range of 1,750 kilometers (1,088 miles), will begin in 2008, with at least 700 aircraft expected to come off the assembly line in coming years. Some 35% of the jets will be sold to North America, 25% to Europe, 10% to Latin America, and 7% to Russia and China.
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