Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport is selling its stake in Vladivostok airport. Its shares will be bought by Vnesheconombank, which – with participation from Singapore’s Changi Airports International (CAI) – will complete the construction of the new terminal and build an airport city around it, the head of the bank’s Far East and Baikal Region Development Fund, Pavel Grachev, has told PRIME news agency.
Interestingly, until very recently interest in Vladivostok airport was shown by another international operator, South Korea’s Incheon company (which, incidentally, owns a 10-per-cent stake in Khabarovsk airport). However, it appears that VEB has chosen another foreign player.
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A memorandum of understanding to that effect has been signed at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum between Vnesheconombank, the Far East and Baikal Region Development Fund, the Maritime Territory administration, and CAI.
“The sides have agreed to implement a project to develop Vladivostok International Airport and airport infrastructure… Under the memorandum, the Far East and the Baikal Region Development Fund intends to take an active part in implementing the project of transforming the airport into a major transport hub in the Russian Far East. To prepare a plan for the comprehensive development of Vladivostok airport, develop a route network, operate and maintain the airport, the parties intend to use Changi Airports International’s experience and best practices. The parties are convinced that the implementation of this project will help expand access to air transportation for residents of the Far East, increase their mobility, develop the region’s infrastructure and create new jobs,” a VEB press release said.
At the moment, Vladivostok airport is controlled by the Sheremetyevo International Airport open joint-stock company. Technically, the company, a controlling stake in which belongs to the state, owns 52.16 per cent of shares in the Vladivostok International Airport open joint-stock company (which runs the old terminal) and 74.99 per cent in the Vladivostok Terminal closed joint-stock company (which runs the airport’s new terminal, which was built for the APEC summit in 2012). VEB already owns 25.1 per cent in the second company but is yet to buy minority shareholders’ stakes in the first.
“We are planning a corporate restructuring programme since the airport is currently divided into several facilities belonging to different legal entities. So first we shall have to merge these entities together. Then the Changi company will buy its stake, after which we shall jointly approve an investment programme and will start implementing it. Realistically, funds for development will start coming in 2014, while the year 2013 will be spent on entering the project and making the necessary corporate preparations,” Pavel Grachev told the news agency.
Thus, Sheremetyevo International Airport will fully divest itself of an asset it has been busy developing for the past several years. According to the Kommersant newspaper, Sheremetyevo International Airport will get approximately $47 million in cash for the two stakes and will be repaid $78.6 million in loans granted to Vladivostok airport earlier. As part of preparations for the APEC summit, the airport underwent a major refurbishment (earlier Sheremetyevo International Airport CEO Mikhail Vasilenko estimated the company’s investment in that work at $198 million); two runways (each 3.5 kilometres long) were upgraded, a new access road and a fuelling station were commissioned.
The operation of the airport will evidently be handed over to CAI. The international operator is already working in Russia: it owns 30 per cent in the Basel Aero joint venture, which owns and runs four airports in Krasnodar Territory. However, the Vladivostok project is an independent business, in no way related to Oleg Deripaska’s airport holding company.
According to Grachev, CAI’s experience of running Singapore airport will be particularly relevant for Vladivostok. The operator will also take part in implementing the project to build a so-called airport city: retail, hotel, and exhibition premises aimed to create a business atmosphere around the airport.
“The airport is new but not all of its facilities have been completed. It was built specifically for the APEC summit and some of the projects were suspended after the summit was over. That is why the deal envisages the allocation of the remaining finance and the completion of those airport facilities that have not been completed, as well as the development of the airport infrastructure,” Grachev explained.
Last year the airport handled 1.62 million passengers (including those attending the summit), which was 11 per cent more than in 2011. The capacity of the new terminal is 3 million passengers a year.
VEB chooses to share Vladivostok airport with Singapore rather than Korea
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