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The Antonov An-148 regional airliner is currently being produced jointly by both Russia's United Aircraft Corporation and Ukraine's Antonov, and restarting production of the An-124 cargo aircraft is another project where the two nations are likely to cooperate.

Concerning Antonov An-148 short-haul passenger aircraft the only Russian carrier using the planes expressed his concerns that the plane breaks down too often.

"The reliability of An-148 planes is below the previously declared level, and is not enough to provide safe and regular flights," said GTK Rossiya, which has five An-148 planes in its commercial fleet.

The airline said in a statement that 235 malfunctions occurred during 1,725 flight hours from June to August. Maintenance and repair works took 2,139 hours, or about 89 days.

Russia's United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) said it would invest an additional $232 million in development and production of the An-148 at its Irkut Corporation subsidiary. Irkut hopes the planes will fill about 10 percent of the market for 61-99 seat aircraft in 2010-2028.

Irkut said earlier it would manage the An-148 program, promote the plane on domestic and foreign markets, set terms and agreements with the developer and key suppliers, and would be the sole seller of An-148s to airlines, leasing companies and the government, replacing Ilyushin Finance Co.

The aircraft will be sold in Russia, the CIS, Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia, India, and other states. Eight Russian and a number of foreign companies have so far ordered An-148s.

Production of the An-124 cargo aircraft is also on the way. The contracts have not been signed yet but Antonov Civil Aircraft have already received orders for the production of 60 An-124 cargo aircraft.

Russia's United Aircraft Corporation and Ukraine's Antonov are expected to set up a joint venture to produce Antonov aircraft in October. The sum of the charter capital for the 50-50 venture between Russia's United Aircraft Corporation and Antonov has not yet been defined. It is likely to be denominated in rubles, since the venture will be on Russian territory. In the first stage, the venture will manage the marketing and after-sales service of aircraft designed by the Ukrainian Antonov Design Bureau.

Russia-Ukraine ties have blossomed since Yanukovych replaced pro-Western Viktor Yushchenko in February.