The Russian Aerospace Agency (RAKA) and the Ministry of Transport have made a joint recommendation to the Russian government to reduce import tariffs on certain imported aerospace components.

The appeal was made by Andrei Osipov, deputy head of aviation development programs at RAKA, after the government asked RAKA and the ministry to report on tariffs this month.

While in some cases, tariffs protect some domestic producers, high tariffs on components are constraining the development of some aerospace projects in Russia, Osipov said.

RAKA has recommended that tariffs should be reduced on imported components for which there is no Russian equivalent or for which the quality of imported products considerably exceeds their Russian-made counterpart.

Tariffs would likely remain in place on foreign aircraft for which there is a Russian equivalent in "serial production," although with civil aviation manufacturing virtually at a standstill – with the exception of Tupolev's Tu-204 and Tu-214 – that definition remains inexact.

Tariffs on some components are likely to be reduced to an "acceptable level" – with reports suggesting cuts from 15 percent to 5 percent.

Duties on the import of light aircraft – weighing up to two tons – have also been touted for substantial reductions. Osipov said that the Russian aerospace industry is unlikely to begin serial production of light aircraft in the foreseeable future, making it vital to import such airplanes in order to meet demand within Russia's recovering general aviation sector.

Osipov also suggested that tariff cuts would further encourage local aerospace production in general – alluding to the increasingly cooperative relationships between Russian producers, led by RAKA, and Western producers such as EADS, which makes Airbus jetliners, and Boeing.

The government is considering easing regulations across the board to increase foreign participation in the aviation sector and has even proposed changes allowing foreign participation in Russian military projects, which had once been considered taboo.