Volga-Dnepr began to fly around Belarus • The Bell • RIMA — Russian Independent Media Archive

Date

06/28/2021

Author

Сергей Смирнов

Source

The Bell

Preserved copy

Internet Archive

Translated material

Volga-Dnepr began to fly around Belarus

The largest cargo airline in Russia, Volga-Dnepr, has ceased to use the airspace of Belarus for flights, found out . RBC

The publication first noticed the change in routes on the Flightradar service, and then confirmed this with a company representative. “We have indeed decided not to temporarily use Belarusian airspace for our aircraft,” he said, declining to comment further.

The EU, UK and US, among other Belarusian companies, have imposed sanctions against Belaeronavigatsia. Flying through Belarus and paying navigation fees implies cooperation with Belaeronavigatsia, violation of the sanctions regime and criminal punishment, the British aviation regulator explained in a letter to airlines on June 21. “The aircraft of the Volga-Dnepr group (in addition to the carrier of the same name, it includes AirBridgeCargo and Atran airlines) stopped using the airspace of Belarus almost the next day after receiving a letter from the UK Civil Aviation Authority,” RBC notes.

Volga-Dnepr is owned by President Alexei Isaikin, the parent structure of the Volga-Dnepr Logistics BV group is registered in the Netherlands. The company has a unique fleet of An-124 Ruslan heavy transport aircraft, thanks to which it specializes in large international transportation, including oversized and unique cargo.
In 2020, the company's revenue grew by 40% to $2.34 billion, thanks to higher freight rates and an increase in cargo transportation during the pandemic. Last week it became known that the group was preparing the placement of bonds for 7 billion rubles.
Russian passenger companies are aware of the British regulator's ban on cooperation with Belaeronavigatsia, but continue to operate flights to Minsk and use Belarusian airspace for transit flights, for example, to Kaliningrad, RBC notes.
The reason for the sanctions against Belarus was the landing of a Ryanair transit plane with the founder of the opposition Nexta channel Roman Protasevich. We talked about the consequences of sanctions for the country here .