Russia’s Volga-Dnepr Group closes management buyout deal

Creditors of UK's CargoLogicAir likely to be paid in full

Creditors owed money by CargoLogicAir (P3, London Stansted) can expect to be paid in full, but payment may take some time, say the airline's administrators. Per a FlightGlobal report, administrators Buchler Phillips Limited are negotiating their way around the international sanctions regime to access the funds.

CargoLogicAir went into administration in November 2022 after failing to find a UK bank willing to do business with it. The cargo carrier is ultimately owned by Volga-Dnepr Airlines (VI, Ulyanovsk Vostochny) founder and (until recently) CEO Alexei Isaikin. In June 2022, Isaikin was added to the list of high-profile Russians subject to UK sanctions, which included an asset freeze and travel ban that still remains in force.

"(Isaikin is) a director (or equivalent) of a company carrying on business in a sector of strategic significance (the transport sector) to the government of Russia, and therefore is or has been involved in obtaining a benefit or supporting the government of Russia," says the UK's Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI).

In the wake of Russia's invasion...

Russia’s Volga-Dnepr owes C$305,655 in fees for An-124

An An-124-100 freighter belonging to Russian cargo carrier Volga-Dnepr Airlines (VI, Ulyanovsk Vostochny) that was seized at Toronto Pearson Airport ten months ago has racked up CAD305,655 Canadian dollars (USD224,055) in “parking fees” but is not going anywhere anytime soon, Canada’s transport minister Omar Alghabra has said.

RA-82078 (msn 9773054559153) was detained on February 28 as Western countries began to impose sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine four days previously. The aircraft had been carrying Covid-19 testing kits ordered by the Canadian government from China. The seizure of the Antonov Design Bureau quadjet came after the European Union and Canada - but before the United States - initiated airspace bans paralysing the movement of aircraft operated by Russian airlines carrying passengers or cargo.

Alghabra told the Mississauga news site Insauga that the stranded aircraft will not be using Canadian airspace until Russia’s war in Ukraine is over, and it will stay where it is until further notice. A Transport Canada spokesperson had similarly told the site in August that it...

Russia to scrap freighter import duties until YE25

Russia has sent a proposal to the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC), a trade and customs union spanning Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, seeking to establish duty-free imports for certain types of civil cargo aircraft until the end of 2025, the news agency Interfax reported.

In particular, the exemption is expected to be introduced for two categories of freighters - those with an empty curb weight (the weight of the aircraft including a full tank of fuel and all standard equipment) of 20 to 90 tons, and widebodies with an empty curb weight in excess of 120 tons.

At the moment, the rates for these range from 7.5% to 12.5%. It is assumed that the preferential regime will be valid until the beginning of 2026.

“The proposal of the Russian Federation is aimed at supporting national airlines engaged in air cargo transportation, and it is prompted by the need to minimise their financial costs in the face of sanctions restrictions,” the document posted on the EEC website explained.

The proposal is to make an amendment to...

Russia's Red Wings Airlines to add Tu-204s, -214s