The total debt of Transaero airline to the Vnukovo group of companies is about 1.5 billion rubles, said Vitaly Vantsev, chairman of the board of directors and co-owner of Vnukovo, on Monday, September 28.

“Transaero owes the Vnukovo group 1.5 billion rubles,” RIA Novosti quotes him as saying .

Vantsev also said that Transaero could have stopped flights back in December 2014 if the state had not promised it state guarantees, Interfax reports . “If Transaero had not been promised December 26, the company would have stopped flights on December 27,” Vantsev said.

In April, it became known that Vitaly Vantsev’s structures own more than 4% of the shares of Transaero airline. “A little over four percent, bought three years ago,” Vantsev confirmed to RIA Novosti . According to Vantsev, the shares were purchased from the market in order to “make money.”

In early September, the government decided to transfer Transaero under the control of Aeroflot in order to save the airline, which was in a pre-bankrupt state. On September 3, the Board of Directors of Aeroflot decided to purchase 75% plus 1 share of Transaero for 1 ruble.

Vantsev then said that he would discuss the fate of his share with the new owner of Transaero. He also said that Transaero's debt to the airport could be restructured. “We can restructure, we will help the company fly and work. Of course, we will meet Transaero halfway,” he noted.

Vantsev named the amount of Transaero's debt to Vnukovo