The first deliveries of the Antonov An-148 are imminent, general designer Dmytro Kiva said on Tuesday during a press conference here at the Paris Air Show. The first eight examples of the 85-seater will go to Kazakh Scat airlines.

According to Kiva, the aircraft meets European requirements for commercial passenger jets so Antonov intends to have it EASA certified. The regional jet already received Ukrainian and Russian certificates in February. Both the Aviant factory in Kiev, Ukraine, and VASO in Voronezh, Russia, produce the An-148.

Antonov is offering two versions. The passenger An-148 has a range of 2,400 nm, while the cargo variant offers 44,000 pounds of payload and a 1,300-nm range. The Ministry of Industrial Policy has allotted an $8-million subsidy to the An-148 program.

Antonov is currently endeavoring to create an integrated company with other Ukrainian firms. The idea is to better organize aircraft production, minister of industrial policy Anatoliy Golovko said at the conference. The new umbrella company would be a joint venture between the existing entities.