Sukhoi chief Mikhail Pogosyan is to replace Alexei Fyodorov as president of Russia's United Aircraft Corporation.

Arkady Dvorkovich, an aide to Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, says the appointment of Pogosyan will be announced shortly.

"His candidacy has been endorsed and is to be presented for approval to the governing board during its next meeting," says the official.

Pogosyan has been director general of the Sukhoi Holding since 1998. He also holds the post of UAC first vice-president.

Speaking to the media following a cabinet meeting on economic modernisation, Dvorkovich said Medvedev has lashed out at several state corporations for slow progress in harnessing technological innovations.

"United Aircraft is one of them," he says. "Hence the decision to reshuffle its management."

Sources close to the situation suggest that Vladimir Barkovski, chief of the engineering centre at the Mikoyan design bureau, has been tapped as managing director for Sukhoi.

They also expect Boris Alyoshin, who heads the Central aero-hydraulics institute (TsAGI), to take over the management of UAC division NPK Irkut from its current president Oleg Demchenko.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news