Questions over unfinished business remain unanswered (345 words)

Published: 5/8/2001

Vnukovo Airlines's (VAL) EGM has agreed to the merger of Siberia Airlines (Sibir) with VAL, with 98.9% of votes in favour of the move. Surprisingly, although both sides have now approved the deal, the post-merger ownership of the new airline has neither been made public, nor voted for by shareholders, despite the fact that the airlines are already operating closely and, following the VAL EGM approval, will operate together. Igor Volkov, spokesman for Sibir, said, rather ambiguously, that the details will be forthcoming when exact procedure of merging is determined. VAL's shares will be converted into Sibir's shares, but this will take place after shareholders of Sibir and VAL approve the ratio of conversion of VAL's shares in Sibir's shares. Volkov did not reveal any date for this. Volkov denied reports that the pre-merger transfer of VAL's fleet to a VAL leasing subsidiary, called Centreleasing, had effectively stripped the assets from the airline. Earlier reports had suggested that a 75% stake in the subsidiary had been sold by Russian Aircraft Consortium, controlling shareholders in VAL, to an undisclosed third party. The sale was reported to have led to the resignation of Alexander Krasnenker, the airline's former General Director. Volkov said that eight Tu-204s now owned by the leasing company are at Aviastar, in varying states of readiness and that they will be transferred to the new leasing company, planned with Aeroflot, as part of Sibir's investment. This suggests that the sale either did not go through, or was made to Sibir. Volkov added that the proposal for the new leasing company to receive government guarantees and subsidized funding had already been submitted to the Ministry of Transport.

Article ID: 2519