Kazakhstan and Ukraine have signed an agreement on cooperation in aviation, Tenrginews reports citing the press office of Kazakhstan's Ministry of Defense.

Kazakhstan and Ukraine continue strengthening their relations in various areas. The recent visit of President Petro Poroshenko to Astana gave a boost to the relations and cooperation of the two nations and served to strengthen their ties in transportation. The official visit of the Ukrainian president was followed by a Kazakh-Ukrainian business forum for professionals and businessmen from "aircraft engineering, mining industry, machine building, geological exploration, agriculture, food industry and other" spheres, Civil Aviation Committee said.

Ukraine is known for supplying Kazakhstan with equipment for railway and mechanical engineering. This time around, Ukraine will be working with Kazakhstan on the supply, provision of repair services and development of new technologies in aviation.

"Ukraine is one of the few countries that has a complete cycle of aircraft production. (...) Here we see great perspectives for cooperation with Kazakhstan. We are talking about the creation of a service center for Antonov aircrafts at the aviation technical center in Astana. And certainly, we also hope for opportunities of strategic supplies of aircrafts such as An-148, An-158 and the new Ukrainian development An-178, the aircraft to be presented at La Bourget (air show)," Advisor to Ukraine's Minister of Economic Development and Trade Oleg Yakovenko said.

According to Yakoveko, negotiations between KB Antonov, Ukraine's state aviation manufacturer, and Kazakhstan on production of An-140 and An-100 had been going on for many years.

Finally, thanks to the signed document, Kazakhstan Aviation Industry, a subsidiary of Kazakhstan Engineering will work with Ukrspetsexport on import and export of aviation products. This opens new opportunities for defense industrial complexes of both countries.

In particular, as a part of the agreement, it is planned to organize a service center for technical maintenance and repair of Antonov aircrafts at the aviation technical center in Astana as well as a regional repair center for aviation engines produced by Motor Sich.

In terms of modernization, the agreement provisions engine change at An-2 and An-2-100 aircrafts and assembly of MS-14 jet-prop engines for installation in the modernized aircrafts. In addition, it envisages Ukraine's cooperation with Kazakhstan Aviation Industry in production of components for Antonov aircrafts and Motor Sich produced engines.

The Ministry of Defense of Kazakhstan added that in the future the countries would be working on development and production of air drones for military and civilian use and supply, repair and technical services for aviation simulator complex.

By Gyuzel Kamalova