Moscow not rushing to sell Vnukovo stake - Sharonov
MOSCOW. March 23 (Interfax) - The city of Moscow is not rushing to sell its 75% stake in Vnukovo Airport, but the shares will be privatized soon, Deputy Mayor Andrei Sharonov said.
"This is a matter of time. I don't rule out that it might happen in 2011," Sharonov told Interfax on Wednesday.
Earlier this week the head of transportation and road transport infrastructure, Nikolai Lyamov, said no privatization of Vnukovo is currently being planned. "The issue of selling the city's stake in Vnukovo is not even on the agenda. We are engaged in the intensive development of the complex," Lyamov said.
But Sharonov said Lyamov's statement should not be interpreted as a decision not to privatize. "There hasn't been a timeframe [for sale of Vnukovo] in the past and there isn't now," Sharonov said.
Vnukovo Invest represents the interests of the shareholders with the remaining 25% stake in the airport. Its co-owner, Vitaly Vantsev, previously expressed interest in bidding for the city's stake and expected the sale to occur in the second half of 2011.
Other potential contenders for the city's stake that have been mentioned at various times are Oleg Deripaska's Basel, Viktor Vekselberg's Renova and Vladimir Yevtushenkov's AFK Sistema .
The city's 75% stake in Vnukovo was valued at 27 billion rubles in an appraisal carried out in December 2010.
Vnukovo served 9.4 million passengers in 2010.
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