Russia Seizes Control of Saint Petersburg Airport From Foreign Shareholders

   By Mauro Orru 
 

Russia ordered the transfer of rights to manage Saint Petersburg's Pulkovo airport from foreign shareholders--such as Germany's Fraport--to a new entity, the latest seizure by the Kremlin of assets in which with foreign groups still have interests.

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday signed a decree that effectively transfers the stakes that foreign groups own in Northern Capital Gateway--the company that operates Pulkovo airport--to a new entity, VVSS Holding. Fraport owns a 25% stake in Northern Capital Gateway as part of a 30-year concession agreement that was signed in 2009 to operation and expand the airport.

The decree said the move was due to "the threat to the national interests and economic security of the Russian Federation" and violations by some foreign investors of obligations related to the management of Northern Capital Gateway, though it didn't elaborate. Fraport didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

While Fraport and other shareholders, including Qatar's F3 Holding and Emirati Thirty Seventh Investment Company, still hold their stakes in the new entity, according to the decree, their voting rights are now controlled by VVSS's management.

The move highlights the risks to Western companies still operating in Russia, or looking to leave, more than a year after Moscow invaded Ukraine.

In April, Russia decreed that the state can take temporary control of assets of companies or individuals from what the Kremlin calls unfriendly states.

Write to Mauro Orru at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 01, 2023 06:38 ET (11:38 GMT)

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