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ISLAMABAD: Financial crisis being faced by MiG Air Craft Corporation is considered a great set back and challenge for Russia’s arms manufacturing industries to fulfill supply deals.

MiG Air Craft Corporation is Russia’s premier arms manufacturing and exports agency which even exported aircrafts to various countries including India.

Experts said, recently a change in the corporation management due to financial crisis, first of all in the areas of finance and management, has forced key designers to leave the MiG, weakening the enterprise in terms of personnel and technologies.

As a result, the corporation has not been able to fulfill the order of Russian Defence Ministry. For example, the test flight of a prototype of the fifth generation aircraft, Project 1.44, was a complete failure.

The workers of the enterprise that used to be pride of the Russian Military Industrial Complex (MIC), during the communist rule have not received their wages since July this year.

Due to financial crisis, employees have appealed to speaker of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, to take up the matter with the government and help them receive their wage-arrears urgently. The employees earn an average salary of about US $ 40 to US $ 50 a month.

“We have nothing to feed our children, no money to pay our public transport fare, no money to pay for public utilities,” the appeal said. “The people are working under constant strain.”

According to a report filed by Dadan Upadhyay for daily “The Indian Express”, in the past months, the situation at the enterprise has continuously worsened, after a temporary rise following the 1998 financial crisis, press reports say.

By mid-1999, the Primakov government had cleared all wage-arrears and restructuring the enterprise’s debts which totalled about US $ 400. The government had also partially managed to bring back from abroad the money allegedly transferred there by the former MiG management, through the mediation of the Interpol, revealed Russian media reports.