Yet another General Director at Vnukovo and the new one may have brought a friend!

Published: 9/22/1999

Events within the Russian airline sector never cease to amaze and today has been no exception with the news of the replacement of Tatevos Surinov, President of the Russian Aviation Consortium (RAC) as General Director of Vnukovo Airlines, a position he resumed after the resignation of Vladislav Filev of Sibir in July 1999, who had replaced a former Aeroflot and Intourist executive Vladimir Rubtsov, General Director for a few weeks when he replaced Mr Surinov in May of 1999. Mr Filev's departure (www.concise.org 27th July 1999) needless to say, marked the end of discussions between Sibir and the Vnukovo about a potential merger. The replacement of Mr Surinov, who presumably retains his position as chairman of the board, is Alexander Krasnenker who has gained some notoriety over the last few months since his departure from Aeroflot in February, where as senior vice president and commercial director he was regarded as being Boris Berezovsky's man inside the airline along with Nikolai Glushkov, former Deputy General Director. Since his firing after an internal investigation on the 3rd February 1999 and despite a temporary reinstatement, Krasnenker has been under close scrutiny from agencies investigating the handling of Aeroflot's affairs by managers affiliated to Berezovsky, particularly the handling of Aeroflot's foreign revenues cleared through a Swiss intermediary, Andawa. The arrival of a Berezovsky appointee will fuel speculation as to Berezovsky's interest in Russia's second largest carrier, particularly given he has now effectively been ejected from management control of Aeroflot and Tranaero, for the time being at least. The airline has been in trouble for some time (www.concise.org 2nd August 1999), as has its controlling 75% shareholder Russian Aviation Consortium, with recent forced asset sales. In fact the problems were considered to be so deep that even the aggressive Filev, felt unable to achieve a change. There has however, been considerable speculation about the future ownership of the RAC holding, although the prime candidate for buying the stake was Moscow based cargo carrier East Line, which operates out of Vnukovo's new hub at Domodedovo Airport, rather than organisations affiliated to the indomitable Berezovsky.

Article ID: 895