Luckless in India & penniless in Russia -- that’s the MiG story

Luckless in India & penniless in Russia -- that’s the MiG story
DADAN UPADHYAY

MOSCOW, OCTOBER 24: Air Craft Corporation MiG, Russia's premier arms manufacturing and exports agency is facing a deep financial crisis.

The workers of the enterprise that used to be pride of the Russian Military Industrial Complex (MIC), during the communist rule have not received their wages since July.

They have appealed to Gennady Seleznyov, speaker of the State Duma, thelower house of parliament, to take up the matter with the government andhelp them receive their wage-arrears urgently. The employees earn anaverage salary of about $40-$50 a month.

``We have nothing to feed our children, no money to pay our publictransport fare, no money to pay for public utilities,'' the appeal said.``The people are working under constant strain.''

In the past months, the situation at the enterprise has continuouslyworsened, after a temporary rise following the 1998 financial crisis, pressreports say.

By mid-1999, the Primakov government had cleared all wage-arrears andrestructuring the enterprise's debts which totalled about $400. The government had also partially managed to bring back from abroad themoney allegedly transferred there by the former MiG management, throughthe mediation of the Interpol, according to Russian media reports.

Experts said, recently a change in the corporation management, first ofall in the areas of finance and management, has forced key designers toleave the MiG, weakening the enterprise in terms of personnel andtechnologies.

As a result, the corporation has not been able to fulfill the order ofRussian Defence Ministry. For example, the test flight of a prototype ofthe fifth generation aircraft, Project 1.44, was a complete failure.

A civil programme to assemble Tu-334 plane has not worked out either. According to the government plan, the first serial MiG-produced plane isto be ready in 2001, but the Lukhovitsky factory, expected to assemble theaircraft is unable to cope with the task, apparently because of the paucityof funds.