"Siberia" is not for sale

The second airline does not want to merge with the first

Shareholders controlling Siberia Airlines have received an offer to sell their shares, Vladislav Filev, CEO of Russia's second largest airline, said yesterday. According to him, the company has not yet made any decision on this matter. At the same time, Mr. Filev spoke out against the transfer to Aeroflot of a blocking stake in Sibir (25.5%), currently owned by the state.

In early October, Aeroflot General Director Valery Okulov sent a letter to Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin asking him to support the transfer of the state stake in Sibir to his company. Mr. Okulov indicated in the letter that he views this operation only as the first stage of the merger of Sibir with Aeroflot. The next step was to buy back shares from private shareholders of Sibir. The controlling stake in this airline (63.1%) belongs to Natalya Fileva, the first deputy (and wife) of Vladislav Filev.

The management of Sibir at that moment stated that it was not negotiating with anyone about the sale of its shares . Yesterday at a press conference, Mr. Filev said that a corresponding proposal had been received. True, according to the general director of Sibir, it was done very informally. It was an oral offer made by an investment company that did not identify the client for whom it was acting.

“Today, Siberia Airlines has no decision to sell or merge with anyone. Moreover, Sibir did not receive a written proposal that it could consider,” Mr. Filev said. He believes that any offer of this kind should be analyzed by the board of directors of Sibir.

What exactly the decision of the board of directors will be can be fairly reliably predicted by what Mr. Filev said about the possible transfer of the state block of shares in Sibir to Aeroflot. In his opinion, Aeroflot’s entry into the latter’s capital would limit Sibir’s opportunities in a competitive environment. “Aeroflot already stands apart, since it operates in its own closed market, and also competes in open ones with other companies,” Mr. Filev complained. “Aeroflot, figuratively speaking, is the older brother of Siberia Airlines: this state carrier is our competitor, and we are its competitors.” When asked when he would sell the state stake if he were in the officials’ place, he replied: “In 15 years.”

However, as he rightly noted, “the shares (i.e., blocking stake - Ed. ) belong to the state, it will decide who is right and who is the boss.” Earlier this month, the Ministry of Transport informally supported Aeroflot's request to transfer these securities.

Aeroflot advocates the creation of an alliance of airlines from CIS member countries. This was stated by Aeroflot CEO Valery Okulov, speaking at a round table in the State Duma dedicated to the topic “Development of the transport system and geo-economic interests of Russia.” Mr. Okulov also noted the need to create “an internal open sky in the context of the CIS.” Such an initiative, he emphasized, will contribute to the successful development of airlines in the CIS member countries. Transport connections between Russia and the CIS are of priority importance for the company, the general director said, noting that “the policy of quotas and restrictions is flawed, it can only lead to the curtailment of the activities of airlines in the CIS countries.” According to Mr. Okulov, the creation of an internal open sky in the context of the CIS should be preceded by a transition period of ten years or more. ITAR-TASS

Mikhail KUKUSHKIN