Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo Airports could be privatized after merger - Ivanov
NEW YORK. April 5 (Interfax) - Moscow's Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo Airports could be privatized as soon as they are merged, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov told journalists in the United States.
"The first step toward merging Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo Airports into a unified complex will involve measures taken by the state to repay the Moscow government the money spent by it earlier on developing the Vnukovo terminal," he said.
"According to our objective estimates, this figure will range from 40 billion rubles to 50 billion rubles. The federal budget will still have to find this money. But I think that we will certainly do it this year," Ivanov said.
"After it the state, apart from controlling 100% of Sheremetyevo Airport, will hold a 75% stake in Vnukovo. The next step, a merger, will not be much of a challenge for us. But it is needed to control air traffic more effectively and to diverge flows and flights," he said.
"Sheremetyevo could be put in charge of handling high-capacity and long-haul destinations, while Vnukovo could continue operating flights southward and medium-haul flights across Russia," Ivanov said.
"After the merger is finalized (I cannot give you any exact date at the moment), the privatization of these two merged airports will become quite possible," the official said.
"This figure will then stand at hundreds of billions of rubles, because the construction of the third runway at Sheremetyevo Airport will be proceeding at a rapid pace at that moment, or will be already over, which will help seriously boost the airport's capitalization," Ivanov said.