MOSCOW, January 20. /TASS/. The supervisory board of Russia’s state corporation Rostec has given its preliminary approval to investing about 30-40 billion rubles within the next three years into the MC-21 airliner project, Russian Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov told RBC TV on Friday.

He said the issue of investment was discussed in the context of Rostec's possible takeover of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), which runs the MC-21 project.

"This issue [of the takeover by Rostec] was preliminarily considered during a meeting by the Rostec supervisory board. Rostec supported the initiative from the point of view of investing between 30 and 40 billion rubles from its own profits over a three-year-period, in order to ensure timely implementation of the MC-21 program," Manturov said.

He added that the issue of incorporating UAC into Rostec is currently being discussed at various levels because "additional funding is required for aircraft-building projects, including MC-21."

"We studied this initiative with other bodies, which supported us. But the final decision is up to the president and the prime minister," Manturov said. "We are definitely going to come up with a unified decision at the governmental level and will promote this initiative once it is agreed by the president."

MC-21 is a medium-haul aircraft being developed by the United Aircraft Corporation. It will be manufactured in two configurations: MC-21-200 (seating 132 to 165 passengers) and MC-21-300 (capable of carrying 163 to 211 passengers). Currently, work is in progress only on MC-21-300. In late May 2017, it performed its maiden flight. The first planes are scheduled for delivery at the end of 2018.