German airports operator Fraport is expecting to finalise within days a transaction cementing its withdrawal from St Petersburg Pulkovo airport.
Fraport was part of the Northern Capital Gateway consortium – owned by Cypriot-based Thalita Trading – which had a 30-year concession to run the Russian hub from 2010.
But Russia’s government last year ordered a restructuring to create a domestic entity, VVSS Holding, to take over management of the airport from Thalita.
Fraport says it is divesting its 25% stake in VVSS to a Middle East investment firm called Orbit Aviation.
“All approval processes and procedures have been successfully completed,” it states.
Fraport states that a share purchase and transfer agreement has been concluded, and completion requires only a Russian registration of the change in ownership.
“With this transaction we are ending our involvement in Russia,” says Fraport chief executive Stefan Schulte.
He acknowledges that the divestment has taken “longer than originally hoped”.
But he adds: “Our goal has always been to find a solution for the investment that would be in the best interests of our shareholders.”
Fraport has already written off its Russian business in full. It expects the transaction to have a positive debt-reduction effect in the “mid-double-digit million euro” range.
While it has withdrawn from the Russian operation, Fraport has secured a new concession for Greece’s Kalamata airport, on the country’s southern coast.
Fraport and its local partners – Delta Airport Investments and Pileas Holdings – have obtained a 40-year concession, provisionally set to commence late next year, after submitting a €45.2 million ($47.8 million) bid.
It says this will cover operation of the airport’s terminal and other infrastructure, and that the consortium will also commit to modernising and expanding the terminal within the first three years.
“We are going to further develop the airport and realise its full potential over the coming decades,” says Schulte. Fraport operates 14 regional airports in Greece.
