Vnukovo Airlines seeks yet another general director (450 words)

Published: 10/11/2000

In a surprise announcement Alexander Krasnenker of Vnukovo Airlines (VAL), owned by the Russian Aircraft Consortium, resigned from his position as General Director of the airline on the 10th October. According to the company Krasnenker resigned at a board meeting on the 9th of October arguing that he had improved the situation at the airline during his one-year tenure. VAL spokesman Alexei Sapkin firmly rejected the claims that Krasnenker had been forced to resign. Krasnenker will remain with the airline as a member of the board, working on “international negotiations and a development plan for the airline” and will be replaced temporarily by Alexander Klimov, the First Deputy General Director of the airline. With the final appointment being made by the board by the end of the year according to Alexei Sapkin. Looking at the airline's performance and even giving credit for the upswing in the Russian economy for traffic Krasnenker, the former Aeroflot Director who left under a cloud due to his close association with Boris Berezovsky, has made considerable improvements at the airline in the last twelve months. The airline's tariff policy has been overhauled, punctuality has been substantively improved, debts have been reduced and the image of the airline lifted from a very low level with recent traffic figures reflecting the improvements. Recent events relating to the suspension of fuel supplies and problems with airport access due to debts have suggested however, that the new management team had not resolved the airline's pressing cash flow problems. As yet, the reason for Krasnenker's departure from his post remains unclear, but for Vnukovo, which has had a succession of General Directors over the last two years, his departure creates further uncertainty for one of Russia's largest carriers. It is also unclear what impact Krasnenker's departure will have on the reported pre contract agreement between Vnukovo and Iraq, to potentially sell the embargoed country ten Tu-204 once the sanctions against the country are lifted. This has been seen as the prime motivation for Vnukovo to contest with Aeroflot the right to re-establish air links with Baghdad, a view confirmed by the airline's deputy chairman Sergey Isakov.

Article ID: 2124