Kazan Airport is unlikely to remain state-owned forever / M. Stulov / Vedomosti

JSC "Kazan International Airport"

Largest shareholders (company data as of June 30, 2014): CJSC Tat-Avia (35.36%, company owner - the Ministry of Land, Property and Agriculture of the Republic of Tatarstan), NPO Investment and Venture Fund of the Republic of Tatarstan (49.8%). Financial indicators (RAS, 2013): Revenue - 1.2 billion rubles, Net loss - 406.9 million rubles. Passenger traffic (2013) - 1.8 million people.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has granted the request of state-owned Svyazinvestneftekhim OJSC (SINKh) to purchase 85.1% of the authorized capital of Kazan International Airport OJSC (IAK), the agency said in a statement. According to the FAS, in addition to the shares it already has, SINKh will receive 100% of the airport's authorized capital. Svyazinvestneftekhim is consolidating IAK's assets; the company currently has a 14.8% stake in the airport, which it received from participating in its additional issue last year, says SINKh press secretary Elvira Saifullina. Last year, a representative of the Tatarstan Ministry of Land and Property left the airport's board of directors, and in June of this year, Vladimir Terentyev, head of SINKh's portfolio investment department, joined it, as can be seen from the company's reporting.

The main financial indicators of the Kazan airport have significantly worsened over the past year, notes Alpari analyst Anna Kokoreva. Gross profit fell by 39% to 267 million rubles, sales profit by 88% to 34.6 million rubles, net profit decreased more than 10 times - from 175.9 million rubles in 2012 to 11.1 million rubles last year, according to the company's annual report. The peak of the airport's capacity occurred during the 2013 Universiade and the preparation period for it, and now the airport's operations are on the verge of losses, despite the overall growth in revenue, says Kokoreva. The airport's debt burden has grown, the amount of long-term liabilities has grown threefold compared to 2012 and amounted to 110.3 million rubles, the analyst continues. With the development of business and tourism, Kokoreva expects growth in air travel, “but this is a long process and the growth will not be significant enough to return to previous figures,” the next boom can be expected at the 2018 World Cup. The accounts receivable of the IAC at the beginning of the year were 940.4 million rubles against 685.8 on January 1, 2013, according to the explanatory notes to the annual report.

Consolidation is needed so that Svyazinvestneftekhim can independently take care of the airport, which is in a difficult financial situation due to the debts of the republican airlines, believes Artem Deev, head of the analytical department of Aforex. According to him, given that Svyazinvestneftekhim owns the airline Ak Bars Aero, the Bugulma airport and other aviation assets, the authorities of the republic want to create a large hub in the Volga region with a clear and transparent infrastructure. "After settling the debts of MAK, Svyazinvestneftekhim can sell it to a specialized investor or attract a serious Russian or Western partner. The market price of the airport, based on revenue, is no more than $30-35 million, and consolidation will occur through offsetting MAK with other assets of Svyazinvestneftekhim, primarily with Ak Bars Aero," Deev believes.

Owning an airport will provide Ak Bars Aero with competitive advantages, which will lead to a lack of competition and monopoly, a top manager from the aviation industry of Tatarstan believes. Already now, the airports of Ufa and Samara carry more passengers than Kazan, although there was no Universiade there, he notes. "MAK is a normal profitable structure, but it had [accounts receivable] debts of Tatarstan Airlines - 500 million, which were covered by SINH. The whole world has moved away from the practice of having an airport and an airline in the same hands, this is a return to the old scheme," says the interlocutor of Vedomosti.

"We are afraid of such a development of the situation [as with AK Tatarstan] and we are trying to pay the airport for the services received," assures Vasil Kayumov, Commercial Director of Ak Bars Aero. According to him, the debt burden in all areas is great, it is impossible to suddenly abandon the aviation industry, it is necessary to continue to help the company, go through the stabilization stage and continue development. "Investments were made in the airport infrastructure, and in order to receive a return, the package can be transferred to SINH," he believes.

Ak Bars Aero's accounts payable amounted to 5.3 billion rubles at the beginning of the year; since January 1, 2013, it has increased by 2.2 billion rubles, according to the explanatory note to the airline's annual report for 2013.

It's time to deal with debts