OREANDA-NEWS. Ukraine has suspended the hand-over of technical paperwork on the Antonov aircraft to its foreign partners. A directive to that effect was issued by Vice Prime Minister Mykola Azarov to the Economics Ministry, the Ministry of Industrial Policy, and the Concern "Aviation of Ukraine", reported the Official website www.kmu.gov.ua.

He tasked them to examine, in accordance with the Law "On the State Secret", a number of documents pertaining to the design and technical data of the Antonov aicraft. Subject to the analysis are the documents that were "handed over and/or prepared for a hand-over to joint or affiliate enterprises, foreign legal entities operating under agreements on joint activities both on the territory of Ukraine and beyond its borders".

Earlier, Mr. Azarov complained about the hand-over to Russian enterprises of the documentation concerning the An-148 aircraft. "An-148 was developed by us. We allocated a huge amount of money for its creation and for its serial production not only at the Kyiv-based "Aviant" but at other Ukrainian plants as well. We hoped to place it on the market and therefore we didn't altogether like those agreements ," the vice premier said.

"Aviant" and the Voronezh Aicraft Works OJSC (Russia) launched joint serial production of An-148 in 2007.