Uzbekistan "was an important part of the integrated Soviet aircraft building complex and, naturally, it [the plant] cannot exist on its own, without deep cooperation with the Russian aircraft building complex," he told Russian journalists on Friday [23 January].

"We are working on two projects: the Ilyushin Il-76 and Il-114 planes. We jointly make Il-76 for export. But the best prospects lie in our cooperation on creating the Il-114 plane," Fedorov said.

"It is a regional turboprop plane with very good characteristics and with great potential on the global market," he said. "Currently, we are drawing up the organizational scheme for our relations, considering various forms, including a joint venture, to be able to produce and sell this plane," Fedorov said.

Russia and Uzbekistan have signed an intergovernmental agreement according to which the Tashkent Aviation Plant becomes part of the United Aircraft Construction Corporation, he said.

"From the legal point of view, it is a lengthy and difficult process. Essentially, this is the first foreign company to become part of the UACC. This is why we have decided not to wait for the end of this legal process and to speed up our joint work. Most likely, it will be a joint venture formula. The UACC will own a 51 per cent stake, while Uzbekistan a 49 per cent stake," Fedorov said.

Already, there are requests for 100 Il-114 planes from Russian companies alone, the UACC chief said. Moreover, India is also showing some interest in buying such planes.