Ukraine has lost its civil aviation in its pre-war form: the industry is on the verge of extinction

After the start of the full-scale war with Russia, Ukraine actually lost civil aviation as a separate industry. The country's airspace is closed, flights are suspended, and most of the companies that operated on the domestic market or served flights to/from Ukraine have been destroyed or forced to completely change their activities. The consequences of this are the loss of developments and technologies that have been developing for decades, and in the near future, the loss of thousands of jobs and highly qualified personnel, opportunities for earning, and most importantly, the capacities and resources necessary for the state's defense capabilities, which directly affect the course of the war. This was exclusively told in an interview with UNN by the head of the legal committee of the Aerospace Association of Ukraine, lawyer Ruslan Melnychenko.

Ukraine has not simply lost the aviation market, but is facing the risk of completely losing the industry, which for decades has been considered one of the flagships in the country.

We will lose this industry. And we will lose not only equipment, but also people. Engineers, pilots, mechanics will leave the profession or go abroad. We will no longer be able to restore production, we will lose export contracts, we will lose the war at the level of technology. And also - we will be left without defense aviation

As of now, Ukraine uses more than 300 units of military aviation equipment of Soviet origin to defend the country. These are Mi-8, Mi-17 helicopters, Antonov aircraft - everything that has been preserved since the USSR. And although Ukraine has the infrastructure, qualified specialists and unique facilities for its maintenance, without access to components, such equipment will stop. In addition, Ukraine could become a hub for servicing aviation equipment of Soviet origin for third countries, which could generate significant revenues to the budget. Losing such an opportunity to earn money during the war is to "shoot yourself in the foot".

If the Ukrainian aviation industry does not reach a common decision on the further operation of aircraft of the former USSR, which were designed on the territory of the Russian Federation, the operation of these types of aircraft will be completely stopped. In fact, this will mean the loss of the Ukrainian aviation school, which has Soviet approval. Ukraine's transition to Western technology with the abandonment of the operation of aircraft developed in the USSR will completely stop the domestic aviation industry

Instead of supporting an industry that is critical to the country's defense, regulators often create additional barriers. There are no clear legal norms regarding the use of Soviet parts from third countries, and enterprises operate under the constant threat of criminal prosecution.

"Our aviation and technical infrastructure is still working. But enterprises are on the verge of survival. They need legal guarantees so that they are not afraid of criminal liability for importing old parts, for example, from Bulgaria or Poland," emphasizes Ruslan Melnychenko.

Complete import substitution cannot be fully implemented in the coming years. The transition to Western equipment and components requires years, billions of investments, political will and strong state support. At the same time, Ukraine already has equipment that requires Soviet components, this equipment is currently used in civil and state aviation and cannot be abandoned.

It is worth noting that the economic efficiency of operating, for example, Soviet-made helicopters demonstrates extremely high profitability. The average service life after overhaul is on average 8-10 years, while maintenance is almost completely provided by domestic components

Today we are dealing with a paradox: the equipment is still suitable, there are specialists, the infrastructure is working, but there are no parts. Or - there are, but domestic aviation enterprises, purchasing them completely legally without sanctions elements, are still under pressure from Ukrainian law enforcement agencies and their work is blocked. Thus, the decision on Ukraine's complete abandonment of Soviet components should be made in a balanced manner with a cold mind and taking into account all the variables in this complex equation. In modern realities, in the context of a full-scale war, we must ensure the rapid supply of everything necessary for the repair of aviation equipment and the maintenance of operating resources, which is used in civil aviation and state aviation, buying up what is available around the world. And in parallel, switch to Ukrainian and Western analogues of components and build our own Ukrainian aviation equipment.