KIEV, August 13. /TASS/. Ukraine’s state-run aircraft maker Antonov, which is now incorporated into the state concern Ukroboronprom, plans to manufacture at least 70 planes within the next five years, Ukroboronprom’s press service said on Sunday.

"A detailed marketing plan has been developed for the Antonov state enterprise. The plan is based on expert assessments and forecasts of independent experts and leading companies. It takes into account promising markets and potential for each product on these markets. It also takes into account the existing agreements with partners," the company said in a press release.

In this period, Antonov plans to sell 20 AN-178 planes to its clients in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), in Asian and African countries, and in Turkey. It wants to regain its foothold on the regional passenger planes market.

Before 2015, Russia was Ukraine’s key partner in the aircraft building sector. Russian-made components were widely used to build Ukrainian planes. In 2015, Antonov made only two planes, an AN-148 and an AN-158, which had Russian-made components.

In 2016, the company made no planes at all as all cooperation ties with Russia had been severed. Antonov withdrew from the UAC-Antovon Russian-Ukrainian joint venture that was developing a series of new planes.

Antonov is Ukraine’s leading developer and manufacturer of aircraft. It specializes in the development, production and servicing of transport, passenger and special-purpose planes, including An-32, An-148, An-158, An-74, An-124, An-70, An-225, and the future An-178.

In March 2017, the An-132D, a modernized modification of the An-32, made its maiden flight. The plane is said to be Antonov’s first to be manufactured without Russian-made components.