NOVOSIBIRSK, Aug 5 The UAV industry doesn't need national operators as it will kill it, competition is needed, Archipelago told reporters on Saturday 2023″ in Novosibirsk, Deputy Head of the Federal Air Transport Agency Andrey Dobryakov.
“I don’t think it is needed (a national operator – ed.). We need competition, and if we appoint some operators, some firms now, it will kill the industry. We are for democracy with the observance of laws” , — he said.
Dobryakov also said that the creation of a single operator for manned and unmanned aircraft is also not being discussed.
“In no case is it necessary. These are different types, there is no need to combine them. We need to give the industry the opportunity to develop, and development can only be where there is competition,” he explained.
The deputy head of the Federal Air Transport Agency noted that so far this industry has been poorly studied and 89 operating companies are currently being considered — one for each region of Russia.
“But we will not appoint them. If they appear, we will support them. Not all regions now have those who want to become operators. Everyone wants to participate, but so far in varying degrees of readiness,” he said, specifying that all regions are very different and solutions may be different. The functions of the operators will include organizing the actions of drones and scientific communities.
“On the one hand, it is much easier to work with major players, but of course there are risks. Therefore, we don’t want to appoint, but we want the industry itself to introduce some ideas to us, and we will see that this corresponds the legislation of the Russian Federation,» Dobryakov said.
He added that for security reasons it cannot be a self-regulatory organization.
