By Anton Kudelin @ Shutterstock.com
The Putin administration in Russia has seized control of foreign holdings in the Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg. Bloomberg News reports:
President Vladimir Putin ordered the transfer of rights to managing Russia’s second-busiest airport from foreign shareholders that include Germany’s Fraport AG and the Qatari wealth fund by shifting their stakes into a new domestic entity.
Shareholdings in the Cyprus-registered concession that runs St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo airport will be consolidated in a new Russian company under a decree published late Thursday.
Existing investors, which also include a consortium with Abu Dhabi sovereign fund Mubadala Investment Co., will retain their stakes but won’t be able to vote because those rights will be held only by Russian shareholders in the new company.
The transfer of the shareholdings in the airport of Putin’s home city follows earlier Kremlin retaliation against “unfriendly countries” for measures taken to punish Russia for its war in Ukraine. It’s taking place as Putin asserts Russian “sovereignty” against the US and its allies ahead of a likely declaration he’ll run for a fifth presidential term in March elections.
German airport operator Fraport, the Qatar Investment Authority, and Russia’s VTB Bank each hold about 25% of Pulkovo’s concession. The remainder is controlled by a consortium of investors including Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, RDIF, Mubadala and Baring Vostok, according to the Interfax news service.
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