General Director of Russian Helicopters Alexander Mikheev and managers of the parent company, the holding’s production and knowledge assets participated at the event. Chairman of the Board of Kazan Helicopter Factory, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan and Minister of Industry and Trade of the Republic of Tatarstan Ravil Zaripov gave the opening speech before the meeting participants.

General Director of the Russian Helicopters Holding Alexander Mikheev noted at the end of the board meeting that “the Russian helicopter industry is changing rapidly.” “We have set ambitious goals for ourselves, and in order to achieve them we are creating a modern, dynamic and efficient company. In order to achieve a 20-percent share of the global market we have to accomplish a lot: we have to complete the restructuring and modernization of production, continue to work to expand the product range that we have on offer, grow our technological base, increase the potential of our intellectual property and production holdings and create a global post-sales service system, which will include repair factories that make up a part of the holding.

The amount of investments in production capacities during the past year amounted to RUB 8.3 billion, which is an 8.5% increase over 2012. Labor productivity has increased significantly: output per FTE increased by 12.4% to RUB 3.4 million.

Company expenditures on research and development in 2013 reached RUB 7.9 billion, which represents an increase of 48.4% over 2012. The company continues to pursue a strategy aimed at cultivating its innovative potential.

The holding’s financial and production indicators have shown stable growth over the last several years. In 2013 revenue at Russian Helicopters increased by 10% to RUB 138.3 billion. Shipments totaled 275 helicopters, and the number of firm orders reached 808 helicopters by the end of the year. The value of these orders is estimated to be RUB 401.2 billion. The delivery schedule for 2014 is fully covered by firm orders.

Enterprises at the holding have commissioned more than 800 pieces of new equipment. They have implemented around 100 measures aimed at increasing the environmental friendliness and the safety of helicopter production. The company has achieved significant success in the implementation of its investment projects: The technological development of the machining, galvanization and composite production facilities has been completed.

Board meeting participants also discussed priorities for the development of the holding for 2014. They raised issues surrounding the optimization of the governance structure at the holding and cooperation between its various structural entities in order to improve the efficiency of decision-making and reduce costs.

Meeting participants believe that the optimization of production processes will help expand the scope of cooperation with small- and medium-sized businesses, which can produce quality parts and spare parts for the holding.

Another prospective area of development is the creation of design bureaus at helicopter assembly plants that are intended to ensure maximally efficient cooperation between production sites and the Mil and Kamov Design Bureaus. Today there are already examples where such projects have been successfully implemented at Rostvertol, the Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant and Progress Arsenyev Aviation Company.

Russian Helicopters will continue to devote a significant amount of attention to improving quality. Today, the quality management system at the holding is being improved while taking into account the requirements of international standards in the aerospace and defense industries. As part of this effort the holding joined the European Aerospace Quality Group (EAQG) at the end of last year. In 2014 work in this area will continue on an international level.

RUSSIAN HELICOPTERS HOLDING (a subsidiary of the Rostec State Corporation) is one of the world leaders in the helicopters industry. It is the only developer and manufacturer of helicopters in Russia. The holding is comprised of five helicopter plants, two design bureaus as well as enterprises for the production and service of spare parts as well as a service company that provides post-sales support in Russia and abroad.