ST. PETERSBURG, May 24. /TASS/. The supersonic business jet, which Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) is developing, is basically intended for the world market, UAC President Yuri Slyusar told TASS at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Thursday.

"Of course," he said in reply to a question about whether the supersonic aircraft the UAC was developing had the export potential.

"It is primarily intended for the world market. Potential markets are obvious: these are growing markets of Southeast Asia and the markets of the Middle East. These are the markets, which see a large number of flights and where the factor of time is very sensitive to conducting business at the highest level," the UAC president said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier proposed creating the civil version of the Tu-160 supersonic plane. As Russia’s Industry and Trade Ministry told TASS, it may take seven to eight years to design the business jet. In the ministry’s estimate, the demand for these business jets may amount to 20-30 planes on the domestic market, considering their price of $100-120 million. It was noted at the same time that the future civil plane could have large export potential.

SPIEF-2018 runs on May 24-26. The forum’s events will be held under the motto: "Creating the Economy of Trust." TASS news agency is acting as an information partner and the official photo hosting agency of SPIEF. TASS is also the operator of the zone of SPIEF’s presentations with the support of EY consulting company and the Advisory Council on Foreign Investments in Russia.