Five airlines in Russia do not have enough money to redeem Western aircraft, a third of the allocated funds from the FNB went to Aeroflot - Kommersant

At least five Russian airlines do not have enough time and money for a ransom of about 90 western aircraft, private air carriers are concerned about the lack of criteria when allocating funds from the National Welfare Fund (FNB), which is also called the main Russian “cubic”. It is reported by Kommersant.

A source close to the Ministry of Transport told Kommersant that the conditions of transactions were agreed (or close to coordination) in Aeroflot, S7, Ural Airlines, Ruslane and Charter IFLY. These airlines received permits for “insurance settlement” with the western owners of aircraft, we can talk about 80–90 ships. However, all these companies are at risk not to have time to close transactions on time, since the Ministry of Transport has not yet determined the criteria for obtaining 300 billion rubles from the Federal Tax Service, which the government planned to send to the ransom of these aircraft. Less than three months are left to close the transactions. The permission obtained from the regulators of the European Union (EU) expire on September 30, and the extension of the deadlines is unlikely.

According to the publication, a third of the amount allocated from the FNB has already been spent on the needs of Aeroflot, so other carriers may not get funds. At the moment, Aeroflot has already purchased 10 Boeing 777–300er for these funds. According to the publication, the company also actively discussed the possibility of buying out at least another 81 aircraft. According to experts, an additional about 200 billion rubles will be required to buy such a number of narrow -body aircraft. Therefore, air carriers are afraid that Aeroflot can ultimately receive all 300 billion rubles from the "cubic".

The problem has already been discussed in mid -July at a meeting with representatives of the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Economy and most large carriers. The interlocutors of Kommersant in private airlines said that not everyone would have enough funds from the FNB, but they hope that there will be an opportunity to finance at least part of their transactions.

The Russian aircraft industry faced the challenge after the start of the war with Ukraine and the introduction of sanctions, which actually locked foreign aircraft that are in the leasing of Russian companies within the country. Their repair, as well as Superjet repair, is impossible due to high dependence on imported parts, while foreign owners demand to return the aircraft under the threat of ships. The Insider drew attention to the fact that since mid -2022, the number of accidents has been growing in Russian aviation, including incidents from the chassis.

In July, the co -owner of the Vnukovo Airport and Azimut Airlines Vitaly Vantsev in an interview with RBC said that the air tickets for domestic flights will rise in price by 15–20%by the end of the year, and to foreign flights to 40%. According to him, this is due to the rise in price of maintenance of aircraft due to sanctions imposed against Russia in 2022. The deputy head of the Ministry of Transport Igor Chalik denied the words of Vantsev, a statement was published on the website of the department that there was no reason for such an increase in prices. The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) issued a warning to Vantsev and began jointly with the Prosecutor General of Verification of Russian airlines and airports due to ticket prices.