On 29 October, at a ceremony held in the Catherine Hall of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation, awarded the Order of Honour to Vadim Ligay, general director of Kazan Helicopters. This was by a decree of July 2013.

“I am grateful to the President and the Government of Russia for their high regard for our work. This award really belongs to the whole team at Kazan Helicopters,” Vadim Ligay said. “This is acknowledgement of the services of the whole Russian helicopter manufacturing industry and an incentive to reach new heights in the sector and achieve even greater results.

The Order of Honour is awarded for great achievements in services to the state, industry and scientific research, as well as in the fields of socio-cultural, public and charitable work, which lead to a significant improvement in people’s standards of living. It is also awarded for services in training highly qualified staff, educating the younger generation and supporting law and order.

Other members of Kazan Helicopters were honoured under the same decree: Rinat Valiullin, aircraft mechanic and assembler, was awarded the Order of Merit to the Fatherland, 2nd class; Arkady Moiseev, test pilot, received the honorary title of Merited Test Pilot of the Russian Federation; Igor Bugakov, Ilshat Iskhakov, Alexander Kalentiev, Svetlana Klimova, Valery Stepanov and Marat Khasanov were all bestowed with the title of Merited Machine Engineer of the Russian Federation.

Vadim Ligay began his career at Kazan Helicopters in 1976 as a design engineer. He later worked as a manufacturing engineer, head of the technical office, deputy foreman and foreman. In June 1998 Vadim Ligay was appointed deputy general director for commercial issues and from June 2002 was deputy general director for commercial issues and property management and commercial director. In 2007 he was promoted to general director of Kazan Helicopters. Vadim Ligay takes an active part in public life in Russia and the Republic of Tatarstan. He is the recipient of many awards and honours, and deserves his reputation of being a highly qualified specialist and an excellent leader.