Putin lashes out at cabinet over Russian airline collapse
Russian president Vladimir Putin gave his transport minister a public reprimand on Wednesday after airline VIM Avia said it needed state support to continue operating and carry thousands of passengers stranded abroad.
Mr Putin told Maxim Sokolov, the minister, and deputy prime minister Arkady Dvorkovich that he held them responsible for the airline’s collapse, which has seen investigators launch fraud charges against its owner.
The airline, Russia’s tenth largest, asked for Rbs840m in state support on Tuesday in order to operate flights to repatriate 39,000 stranded passengers. Mr Sokolov said he saw no use in propping up the airline because it had essentially ceased all operations after failing to pay Moscow’s Domodedovo airport, its home base, for fuel.
VIM Avia has between Rbs3bn and Rbs10bn in debt, affecting as many as 200,000 passengers who had bought tickets for upcoming flights, according to Russia’s tourism industry association.The head of Russia’s state tourism agency said on Wednesday that he believed VIM Avia’s owner, Rashid Mursekaev, had fled the country after he missed an emergency meeting and turned off his phone. FT