Rosaviatsia sees no risk of airlines filing for bankruptcy, expects extension of state support - Neradko

MOSCOW. Nov 16 (Interfax) - Russia's Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) sees no risk of Russian airlines going bankrupt amid restrictions in the sector due to Western sanctions, Rosaviatsia director Alexander Neradko said.

"All the airlines are continuing to operate, and no one is expressing intentions to cease their activities. We conduct the monitoring. Everyone is working in a rather stable manner at this point. We see no risk of bankruptcy," Neradko told reporters on the sidelines of the forum Transport Week 2022.

When asked whether state support for air carriers will continue in the fall-winter season, he said, "I am sure it will since there is an order from the Russian president in this regard."

This concerns subsidies in partial compensation of expenses incurred by airlines in performing domestic flights from November 2022 through March 2023. The government allocated 100 billion rubles earlier this year to support Russian airlines' operations in April-October. Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier gave the order to consider further subsidies for the upcoming winter season.

The Russian Transport Ministry is working to allocate 50.6 billion rubles from the federal budget in support of Russian air carriers' winter schedules of operations, acting head of the ministry's department of state policy in the field of civil aviation Dmitry Stepanko said. Deputy Transport Minister Igor Chalik later said that the matter was being coordinated with the Ministry of Finance.