The 300-plus private and state-owned companies that comprise Russia's struggling civilian aircraft industry must merge into a single entity that can compete with Boeing and Airbus, Vice-Premier Boris Alyoshin said last week in Moscow. The industry will draw up a plan this year to detail how it will achieve that goal, Alyoshin told the Associated Press. Alyoshin also said the Tupolev and Ilyushin companies are already working on a merger, and MiG and Sukhoi will be privatized next year, according to Pravda. Last year, Russia produced only seven civilian aircraft, while Boeing built over 300. Russia once built more than 700 aircraft a year, but in the last 10 years the industry has been in decline. Alyoshin also told the AP that his government might soon change its rules to allow more foreign investment, which could provide a boost to the aircraft sector.
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