Russian president Vladimir Putin rebuked his deputy prime minister for working slowly on Moscow's aircraft deals. The incident took place during a live video call when Vladimir Putin was meeting with government officials.
Admonishing Minister of Trade and Industry Denis Manturov, Vladimir Putin said that he should work more on securing orders for civil and military aircraft for 2023 within a month "and no later", Newsweek reported.
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Denis Manturov is in charge of setting up 175 billion rubles ($2.56 billion) worth contracts with state airline Aeroflot, Reuters had earlier reported. But furious over the delay in contracts, Vladimir Putin reprimanded the minister, saying, “It is taking too long! Much too long. Please, I ask you to expedite this work.”
"I know no contracts have been signed with the enterprises. The directors told me so. What are you fooling around with? When will the contracts be signed?” Vladimir Putin was heard saying in a video shared widely on social media.
Following this, the minister told the Russian president that orders had been made for civil and military aircraft and going forward he would try his best to do it as soon as possible.
{{/usCountry}}Following this, the minister told the Russian president that orders had been made for civil and military aircraft and going forward he would try his best to do it as soon as possible.
{{/usCountry}}“No, do not try to do your best. Please get it done in a month. It must be done in a month, no later. Agreed?," Vladimir Putin responded, adding, “I want all of this to be done within a month. Do we not understand the circumstances we are in? Please complete this work within a month. OK?"
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state news agency Tass that Vladimir Putin had "no serious complaints about Manturov's work", following the incident.