Branson will help Ukraine in the construction of the new An-225 "Mriya" aircraft

The British billionaire, the founder of Virgin Galactic Richard Branson expressed his readiness to help Ukraine with the construction of a new An-225 "Mriya" transport aircraft, said the head of the Ukrainian delegation at the negotiations with Russia, David Arahamia. The only working copy of the largest transport aircraft in the world was destroyed during the war, he writes forbes.ru.

An-225 «Mriya"

British entrepreneur and founder of Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson, flew to Gostomel, Kyiv region of Ukraine on July 29. During the visit, the billionaire expressed his readiness to help Ukraine in the construction of the new An-225 "Mriya" transport aircraft, David Arahamiya, the head of the Ukrainian delegation at the negotiations with Russia, said in his Telegram channel.

According to him, at the meeting with Branson, a representative of the Ukrainian government discussed the prospects of cooperation in space and the construction project of the new An-225 "Mriya" transport aircraft. "This is a world legend and one of the symbols of Ukraine. This is the only aircraft of its kind that has set 240 world records," Arahamia reminded. According to him, the new aircraft will set many more records and will be "even more advanced, built on modern digital equipment, which will allow it to become even stronger."

"Richard expressed his willingness to help in any way he could and was pleasantly shocked by our optimism and the fact that even in the most difficult times we dream of breakthroughs in aerospace construction," wrote Arahamiya at the end of the conversation. He added that there is no doubt that the best times for aviation and space technology of Ukraine are yet to come.

Earlier, on Wednesday, July 29, on his personal Facebook page, the head of Gostomel administration, Taras Dumenko, reported that Branson was interested in the Antonov airfield and the possibilities of its restoration after the damage caused to the state-owned enterprise during the war. As Dumenko noted, representatives of the local administration and Ukroboronprom told the businessman about the prospects for the reconstruction of the airfield and available restoration projects.

The world's largest transport plane "Mriya" ("Dream") was destroyed during the war near the Antonov airport - it was there for repairs. The plane was the only working example. It was assembled at the Kyiv Mechanical Plant in the 1980s. Its weight is 175 tons. The plane has several world records related to take-off weight and carrying capacity. It can lift up to 250 tons of cargo. An-225 "Mriya" was developed by Antonov OKB in 1988. All work on the second copy of the An-225 was stopped at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s.

Earlier, in an interview with Euronews, Richard Branson stated that business leaders need to speak out about the situation in Ukraine in order to contribute to the end of the war: "Now is not the time for neutrality."

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