Sergey Davydkin, Giproniiaviaprom - Гипронииавиапром
Release Date: 2009-04-24
First of all, we would like to tell you that you have a very impressive collection at your permanent Exhibition Hall with all those models, pictures and rewards, which shows in a very visual way the history of your company and all its activities.Yes, we show there the current opportunities and capacity of our company which has been operating since 1932. The history, just like the history of everything in Russia, is very interesting and full of action!
We were at the Aviaforum conference on March 27, where the general feeling among aviation companies was that 2008 was a very good year although it ended badly, and there was a lot of uncertainty about the future. As Giproniiaviaprom focuses a lot on aviation, how do you evaluate last year’s operation and what do you expect to happen this year?
Of course, the crisis affected everyone and we in particular felt its impact in October which is normally our most productive period - so we failed to get the initially established performance.
Authorities are saying that the worst part of the crisis is over, is this so for your business?
On the contrary, for us the worst is still to come. We’re in the very beginning of an investment process and we are feeling the effect of the crisis that Russia is now encountering. We rely a lot on the Federal Target Program under which tenders are planned for May when financing will actually start. So, for us the State is the most reliable investor. Unfortunately, many customers who had signed contracts with us are now cancelling them or delaying signing upcoming contracts; private assets are also very risk-dependent.
But, some say, a crisis is also a good time to reinvent and find new ways of doing things. Alexey Fedorov from UAC said that crisis for them is an opportunity to take one step ahead - he called it a “launch pad” in order to be ready to compete on the world scene by 2015. The current situation has made it particularly important to innovate and to invest in infrastructure construction – the two things that this company does well; R&D and construction. In this regard, where do you see your niche, what are the lines of development that could be more profitable for you?
As for all entrepreneurs, there are certain pros and cons… A positive thing is optimization of business: you get rid of inefficient activities and enhance more demanded activities and more efficient people. As a result, the superfluous is washed out and what remains is the kernel.
So what would those be in your case?
Our business is based on intellectual resources. This is the driving force behind our offer. The think tank is where our ideas are born. An important peculiarity here is that we have to asses which technologies that will appear in future and take them into account in out projects to make them efficient and competitive: the task is to see how production of our customers will look like in 5 years.
Do you mean, for instance, nanotechnologies? We were at the RUSNANO exhibition here in Moscow last year and there is a lot of money in there that’s not going to go away because of the crisis…
Yes, nanotechnologies are a very trendy subject right now. The Government is taking very serious decisions and a lot is invested there. Nanotechnologies will certainly be implemented in our future projects.
What about your market? It looks mainly domestic. Do you think of expanding and bringing your expertise to foreign markets? As countries like China need more developments in R&D and are certainly very focused on nanotechnologies, and are constructing massively, you seem to be very well-placed to provide them with solutions.
One should not forget that Chinese and Indian aviation was established in tight cooperation with the Soviet Union, and this is continuing in the framework of interstate agreements such as military-technical and civil cooperation; we can say that Chinese and Indian aviation have taken a lot from the experts of Giproniiaviaprom.
So, the State cooperation and research with China or India is well-established and goes well…
Moreover, it is already developing on the level of personal contacts among the specialists.
But, on a more commercial side, where do you see you could penetrate the Chinese market which is developing so fast in the field of aviation, building those amazing hangars that you do for example, design, construction, EPC…
During the times when we were helping them create their aviation, we also helped them to create a similar institute and gain experience from us, and eventually they turned into our competitors. We did ourselves a bad favor… (Laughter)
As a solution, you can offer better or more avant-guard products and services… This is what competition does, makes companies sharper!
Yes, we have to choose what we offer them because we do remain stronger in some directions; for instance, testing stations for aviation engines. We have developed a unique testing stand jointly with Chernyshev Moscow Machine-Building Enterprise to test engines that they supply to China. It is used to test engines that Chernyshev sells to China. And China now wants to have its own one in China.
The question is in the stage of negotiations, it is a lengthy process. As a matter of fact, the Chinese are good at cost-cutting and we should admit that our Chinese partners are very quick to learn from us and they study our designs and documents with a lot of interest as they want to produce everything themselves. Fortunately, we manage to hold leadership in some spheres. There are just a few chosen technologies that can be authorized for transfer to China.
You say that your capabilities in R&D and your intellectual capacity are the company’s main competitive advantages. We hear from many people that there is generation gap in Russia - the average age of designers and engineers in aviation is 50 years old. How are you affected by this, how are you solving this problem, and do you think that the crisis will make more young people go seek more stable, traditional sectors like this one?
It is indeed a very topical issue for all Russian enterprises including us; the generation gap indeed poses certain problems. Solutions are to train the young people, give them access to our archives, transfer them the knowledge of our experts so that they absorb the knowledge. Our tool is our double-domes which is something you can’t buy.
Over the last 10 years a lot of young people went into ‘easier’ spheres of the economy… Being an engineer and going into rocket science takes a lot of effort! Do you think that now, as younger generation understands that they have to make more effort to succeed, they will be more inclined to follow the steps of older generations, go into Science? Obviously, Russia needs innovations…
I think that the time when young people went flocking into ‘easy money’ is almost through, and now they realize the importance of studying for a certain professional sphere. Professional requirements are now higher, so only the strongest survive and young people - 25% of them are aged under 30 - would prefer professionalism to easy money in order to secure their position on the market.
Professionalism is even more important in our sphere: today professional and experienced designers who are able to work quickly and efficiently are very few and are in great demand. Technological requirements have become tougher, projects are more and more difficult, and those who are able to deliver this expertise are very much valued.
Giproniiaviaprom is an institution that develops innovation and strives for excellence. What would you say about who you are, what can you do and what your prospects are to our readers across the world, especially from China?
We have shaped a few activities that we position as our expertise: testing stations and widespan constructions without support, pillars or columns, of up to 200 sq meters. We design and construct unsupported constructions of the size that very few companies in Russia are able to produce. For instance, we have recently terminated a servicing hangar for the presidential aircraft in Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport where the length of the unsupported span is 144 m whereas we can produce spans up to 200 m. Bear in mind that these structures envisage cranes supported by the roof!
We also produce unique sliding gates for these hangars; every gate is a whole wall by itself! Our last project was a hangar for business jets with transparent sliding gates in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport.
A new presidential hangar is a very good visiting card… Are you going to be present at MAKS-2009?
We are traditional participants of MAKS. Moreover, we are developing their exhibition facility jointly with Rossiya Transport and Exhibition Complex and V&P (France).
We also work a lot with our French colleagues in the sphere of airport development; we have recently developed a draft project with Aéroports de Paris in the International Novosibirsk Airport (MAN).
You shall see you there, then! Thank you!
| Company: | Giproniiaviaprom - Гипронииавиапром |
| Position: | General Director |
| Country: | Russian Federation |