The hand of Aeroflot and East Line Group seen in the appointment (420 words)

Published: 8/10/2000

After months of uncertainty and regulatory chaos in the Russian air transport sector the reorganisation of the FSVT appears to be finally moving ahead with the appointment of Alexander Nerdako, formerly head of the FSVT Safety Oversight, as the Deputy Minister for Transport with responsibility for aviation. Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov recently signed the order to give the Transport Ministry the status of a super ministry, giving it control of traditional maritime, river and automotive areas of transport and additionally the former Federal Aviation Authority (FSVT) and the Federal Highways Administration. For Transport Minister Sergey Franks the move is something of a coup and allows him to gain central control of the development of transport in Russia, although the important Railways Ministry remains independent. Under the new statute, the new ministry will have at least 15 deputy ministers responsible for specific areas of transport, including five first deputies supervising several broad fields of activity. The ministry will also take control of the assets of the bodies that it is incorporating. The candidates for the post of the Deputy Minister responsible for air transport originally included Anatoly Bondarev, First Deputy Director FSVT, Alexander Surinov, head of Transport Clearing House, Sergey Sutulov, Director, Sheremetyevo Airport, Alexander Pleshakov, Chairman Transaero, Boris Demchenko, Director Pulkovo Airlines, Pavel Rozhkov, Head of FSVT International Relations, Alexander Neradko, Head of FSVT Safety Oversight, Karl Ruppel FSVT General Secretary and Nikolay Zobov, First Deputy Director State ATM Corp. With the list latterly being reduced to three candidates Rozhkov, Naredako and Ruppel. There seems little doubt that the various industry power groups lobbying for their candidates particularly, according to sources, Aeroflot and East Line, have influenced the selection of the short list of candidates. The favoured Aeroflot candidates were reported to be Pavel Rozhkov and Karl Ruppel, while East Line Group is reported to have supported Alexander Neradko. Obviously balancing of the various power groups Frank has appointed Rozhkov Deputy Minister responsible for international relations giving the former FSVT man control of a division where many FSVT staffers were concerned that existing Ministry of Transport personnel would get the upper hand. For Ruppel as yet there is no news of his position but it is rumoured that it will be as General Secretary of the Ministry of Transport with responsibility for the running of the ministry. For the agency itself, despite getting its senior officers in key roles, its replacement the aviation council will have little decision making power and will only be able to issue regulations under the auspices of the ministry.

Article ID: 1983