Fraud investigations nearing completion

Published: 5/25/2000

According to the public prosecutor of the Barnaul Transport Prosecutor's Office in Western Siberia, the investigation into fraud by the ex-management of the regional carrier Barnaul Airlines based in Altai will soon be completed. According to Mikhail Moiseychik of the prosecutor's office, the case, which has been underway in Barnaul Industrial Court since March 1999, was interrupted by the court's decree on the basis that the case against Andrei Frolov, the former head of Barnaul Airlines, and Constantine Zerov, his deputy, required further investigation of charges relating to the loss of 4.32 m rubles. Moiseychik reported that the additional investigation was almost complete and the court case is due to resume. He expects the trial will be completed in two to three months. State-owned Barnaul Airlines is bankrupt and according to Nickolay Dovzhenko, Chairman of Altai's Transport, Roads and Communication committee, will be liquidated within two months. The region will inherit the bulk of the airline's assets along with Altai Airlines, the operator of Barnaul Airport, which is 52% owned by the region. Those assets that are less immediately sellable await buyers, but as the major creditor of Barnaul Airlines was Gorny Altai Bank, which is also bankrupt, there appears to be little urgency. Barnaul Airlines was formerly the operator of Barnaul Airport, but after it was put under temporary management in 1997, Altai Airlines was founded by the region and took over the functions of airport operator while Sibir took over the routes using an affiliated company. Since that point the airport's fortunes appear to have gone from strength to strength increasing traffic by 5% in 1999.

Article ID: 1813