23.01.2012
On January 20 the Perm Engine Company welcomed a delegation from the leadership of the United Industrial Corporation OBORONPROM (including United Engine Corporation and Russian Helicopters), headed by OBORONPROM CEO and member of the central committee of the Russian Engineering Union Andrey Geogrievich Reus.
As part of the visit, Andrey Reus and the Perm Krai Governor Oleg Chirkunov, together with Perm Engine Company Managing Director Alexey Mikhalev, cut a symbolic ribbon and thereby launched a new production complex that is unique in our country. At its heart is the ALD electron-bean unit from Germany, for applying ceramic thermal protective coating to engine turbine blades — equipment that does not exist anywhere else in Russia. It was installed in December 2011 in a new production facility built specially for this task of applying thermal protective coatings to turbine blades.
Oboronprom CEO Andrey Reus emphasized that, “the new facility works on a key part of engine building. Only companies with a high level of development in blade production can be leaders in the field. The most important thing is that here we are using technology that will allow us to create a new family of engines, and this is the key to solving a whole range of issues.”
“I believe that the opening of this production facility is our factory’s ticket to the future,” noted Perm Engine Company Managing Director Alexey Mikhalev. “Using the unique electron-beam technology guarantees high-quality production in volumes that will meet not only our own demands, but also those of all UEC companies as well as outside clients.”
The Perm Krai Governor Oleg Chirkunov drew attention to the importance of creating new production facilities for the city and the Region: “The most important thing is that they are creating new high-tech jobs, that today a person who works here must have qualifications and a higher education. Our task is to stimulate production that needs highly-qualified workers, to make sure that the impression of industrial factories being just a place for mindless screw-turning is left firmly in the past.”
Andrey Reus’s visit finished up with a meeting with bosses and employees from the Perm Engine Company and a conference of the regional committee of the Russian Engineering Union. As part of this event, the head of Oboronprom answered questions about the industry’s future and talked about plans for its long-term development and the expansion of government support. “The large-scale modernization of the economy and setting it along a path of innovative growth as announced by the country’s leaders will demand the resolution of engineering and technical tasks to create new break-through products. It will not work unless we rejuvenate engineering, and human capital in the aviation industry in our country. And to do this we need considerable engineering projects and investment programs,” said Andrey Reus. “Measures to reorganize and develop the Russian aviation industry, taken over the last 10 years, have created conditions under which this field has become one of the stable elements in the new national economy, based on developing innovative technology and knowledge, and not just the exploitation of natural resources. I believe that under these conditions it is essential to concentrate resources on projects that will strengthen Russia on the aviation market. In my opinion, this is possible only if we can maintain a consistent political and economic course.”
In summing up the visit, Andrey Reus noted the success of the Perm engine builders in mastering advanced technology and thanked the PMZ team for their good work.
Further information:
Perm Engine Company (PMZ) is a mass producer of aviation engines for civil and military applications, as well as industrial gas turbine units for power stations and gas transportation.
PMZ is part of the United Engine Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of OBORONPROM specializing in engine-building assets.
OBORONPROM is a multi-faceted machine-building group of companies, founded in 2002. It is part of the Russian Technologies group of companies. Its primary activities include helicopter building (Russian Helicopters) and engine-building (UEC).