Kevin O'Toole/LONDON
RUSSIAN TRANSPORT minister Nikolai Tsakh is urging the region's state-owned airports to become more independent of central government, calling for local authorities and, possibly, private investors to take a greater role in their ownership.
The first stage is for airport authorities to be established as joint-stock companies, he told the European director-general of the Airports Council International (ACI), Philippe Hamon, during a recent meeting in Moscow.
Tsakh admits that the federal government will initially need to keep a controlling stake of at least 51%, but says that the remainder should be distributed among the regional and local municipal authorities. "Later on, the federal stake might be reduced to 25.5%, possibly through selling shares to private investors," he adds.
Transferring ownership to local authorities, which are already responsible for the bulk of the tax burden, would give an incentive to ensure their "well-being".
Tsakh also lends support for the move to separate out the ownership of airports from that of their local airlines. Only around 30% have so far become independent.
The ACI was also told that the Russian Government plans to bring Moscow's four main airports under a single authority by the end of the year. "Nobody benefits from the current competition," says Tsakh.
In 1995, the airports together handled 18.6 million passengers. The international hubs at Sheremetyevo (7.8 million) and Vnukovo (4.5 million), accounted for the bulk. Domodedovo processed another 5.7 million and Bykovo 600,000.
Source: Flight International
