The former CEO of Zhukovsky Airport and the airline Red Wings, Evgeny Solodilin, intends to buy out the entire cargo group «Volga-Dnepr», writes «Kommersant». The assets of the airline «Volga-Dnepr» are estimated at about 25 billion rubles, ABC aircraft are worth another approximately $400–500 million, and the estimated market value of all non-flying aircraft of the group is $1 billion, sources told the publication.
LLC «Evraz Avia Service» («EAS Group»), established by Solodilin in February of this year with an authorized capital of 1 million rubles, and the owners of the group signed a preliminary agreement, according to which the buyer will acquire all three airlines of the group («Volga-Dnepr», «Atran», and AirBridgeCargo), «Volga-Dnepr Technics», and «Volga-Dnepr Engineering», etc.
In August, after searches at the airline's office, the owners of «Volga-Dnepr» offered the state to take the assets for free, but, according to «Kommersant», they were refused by the Ministry of Transport, which considered this deal «inexpedient». The letter stated that «the entry of the Russian Federation into the capital of the group under sanctions» would contradict the anti-sanction development model of the holding.
The «Volga-Dnepr» group was one of the largest in the global market for air transportation of super-heavy and oversized cargo until 2022. In 2022–2024, it came under sanctions from Canada, the EU, the UK, and the USA. The group's foreign aircraft ceased flights from 2022. The «Volga-Dnepr» group has 3 out of 11 An-124s in airworthiness (4 of them are arrested abroad), as well as 5 Il-76s. «Atran» had 9 Boeings in its fleet before the sanctions, now 2 An-12s are flying. ABC has 14 Boeings in storage.
The buyer of the group plans to return nine Boeings to the lessors, return the remaining foreign aircraft to flights, and bring the aircraft arrested abroad back to the Russian Federation.
Photo: TASS