Vnukovo Airport to Become Fully Private

Vnukovo Airport is set to become fully private: one of the airport's owners intends to acquire the state's 25% stake plus one share.

Vnukovo Airport is set to become fully private: one of the airport's owners intends to acquire the state's 25% stake plus one share. This is Vitaly Vantsev, who currently heads the board of directors at Vnukovo. The businessman shared his plans in an interview with the newspaper «Vedomosti». After the deal, Vantsev will become the second-largest shareholder of the airport after Vladimir Skoche. Why did the entrepreneur decide to buy out the state's stake? And how will Vnukovo develop in private hands? The discussion will continue with Daria Kostina and Yulia Koshkina.

In the early 1990s, Vitaly Vantsev was in the oil business—he sold fuel to the capital's airports and later took on a leadership role at Vnukovo. In an interview, the businessman explained that the transport hub owed money to his structures and began selling off its assets. Some of these went to Vantsev, allowing him to remain at Vnukovo. Now he is not only a leader but also a shareholder with a 13.5% stake. However, he intends to increase it by purchasing shares from the Federal Property Management Agency.

Analysts believe the deal is timely, particularly for the state, according to Boris Rybak, director of the consulting company Infomost: «It's hard to imagine that the conditions for buying shares will be much better in the near future. There are no negative consequences for the state here. The financial indicators of Vnukovo are not particularly impressive. But all this is part of a general trend, as several companies specializing in airport management have emerged in Russia.»

According to analysts' estimates, the third-largest airport in Russia could be worth 25-30 billion rubles. The state's stake in Vnukovo is valued at 5-8 billion rubles. Vitaly Vantsev does not hide the fact that he decided to exercise his option early. This is because Qatar Airways may soon become a new shareholder of the transport hub, potentially acquiring part of the asset through a share issue, which would dilute the stakes of other partners. By buying the Federal Property Management Agency's stake first, Vantsev will get ahead and maintain a larger share while also gaining a new investor.

Qatar Airways' arrival at Vnukovo could help the airport compete with Domodedovo, noted Raiffeisenbank analyst Konstantin Yumino.

«Here, we probably need to break this down into two points. The first is whether Qatar Airways will 'move' from Domodedovo to Vnukovo. The second question is if the airline changes its base, will it try to lure its Oneworld alliance partners with it. From the perspective of expertise, Qatar Airways is well-equipped for the synchronous development of their base airport. Therefore, the airline could bring a lot of valuable best practices in airport management to Vnukovo,» the expert explained.

New partners are indeed needed for Vnukovo, as next year, the airline «Rossiya» will leave the airport to base itself in Sheremetyevo. However, Vnukovo remains a leader in business aviation. The closest airport to Rublevka handles 80% of business jets daily, and billionaires in Russia have not yet disappeared.

Last year, Vnukovo's revenue amounted to 10 billion rubles, with a net profit of just under 600 million rubles. The airport expects to improve its performance through increased passenger traffic. According to the company, during the World Cup alone, Vnukovo could see up to a 15% increase in traffic. More than half of the charters carrying fans will land there.

Source: Commercial FM