(Reuters) – A Moscow court has given Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsiya, temporary control of all key services at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport, court documents showed, an effective state seizure of the country’s third-largest airport.
Domodedovo handled 9.2 million passengers between January and November last year. Its corporate structure is a set of assets all owned by Russian national Dmitry Kamenshchik or his companies.
Russia has placed several assets, usually those owned by foreigners, under state management since the enactment of an April 2023 decree.
Russia’s Prosecutor General filed a lawsuit last month against dozens of entities connected to Domodedovo and interim measures imposed last week give Rosaviatsiya control of their operation. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Feb. 28.
According to the court documents, prosecutors believe that the airport, an entity of strategic importance to Russia, is under foreign influence as a result of its current ownership structure.
The Prosecutor General, Rosaviatsiya and Domodedovo Airport did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Kamenshchik could not immediately be reached.
Moscow has previously put assets into state management and forced through sales to hand-picked buyers.
French yoghurt maker Danone’s Russian assets were placed under temporary management in July 2023 and a sale to a pro-Kremlin businessman followed almost a year later.
Danish brewer Carlsberg agreed to sell its Russian assets to two longstanding employees of Baltika Breweries in December, after about 18 months of temporary management, in a deal worth 34 billion roubles ($340 million), according to government documents seen by Reuters.
A decree from President Vladimir Putin in December 2023 put St Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport under the temporary management of a newly set up Russian holding company, wresting control from investors from Germany, Qatar and other Gulf states.
In December, German airport operator Fraport said it was close to completing the sale of its 25% stake in Pulkovo to Middle East-based investor Orbit Aviation LLC.
($1 = 99.9000 roubles)
(Reporting by Alexander Marrow and Gleb Stolyarov. Editing by Mark Potter)
