Denis Manturov, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation told The Indian Express newspaper about the status of the MS-21 program:
The main task of the MS-21 program today is to meet the deadlines for certification tests, the test program involves two MS-21-300 airplanes operating flights at the aerodrome of FRI named after M.M. Gromov. Two more test airplanes are being manufactured in Irkutsk. We decided not to distract the planes from their work. Since the exterior of the MS-21 airplane is already well-known in the world, we are planning to present the passenger version of the airplane. This will be the third aircraft. It is already assembled, and engineering systems are being mounted now. The presentation is planned for next year, possibly in Russia. I would like to remind you that the Russian government is the main investor of the MS-21 program, and Russian airlines will be first customers of the airplane.
Today the portfolio of confirmed orders for MS-21 is 175 units. This is enough to cover the production capacity for several years ahead. Aeroflot will be among our first customer, it will receive a total of 50 airplanes.
We clearly understand that it is the successful operation of the airplane by domestic airlines that will be able to effectively promote the airplane on the global market. And our ambitions definitely lie beyond the domestic Russian market. Russia wants this airplane to be actively operated by other countries and will continue to work on it.