France's Bollore hires Antonov to transport European satellites

The Antonov An-124 "Ruslan" aircraft / REUTERS

"An-124 ["Ruslan"] planes will transport European satellites and equipment for them," the president tweeted on December 24.

Read alsoUkraine's giant An-124 saves French A380 stranded at remote airbase in CanadaAccording to Poroshenko, the Antonov An-124 "Ruslan" plane made its maiden flight 35 years ago.

"The model is still one of the most popular among the heavy transport aircraft. The confirmation of this is the contract between the Antonov plant and the French company Bollore," he tweeted.

The state-run Antonov enterprise is the only manufacturer of transport, passenger and special-purpose aircraft in Ukraine. Among its most well-known models are the An-32, An-148, An-158, An-74, An-124, An-70 and An-225 "Mriya" aircraft.