Air traffic - Fraport's farewell to Russian airport
Following the withdrawal of the shareholder Fraport from Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg, Hesse is waiting for more detailed information from Russia. The state government in Wiesbaden had initially only heard about this restructuring from the media, said State Secretary of Finance Martin Worms (non-party) in the state parliament's budget committee on Tuesday. Overall, the international company Fraport, based in Frankfurt, had not been harmed for the time being, nor had its share price. All in all, Fraport had recorded a small positive return in St. Petersburg over the years.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had ordered a new operator structure for Pulkovo Airport, forcing Fraport out of the business. The company had held 25 percent of the previous operating company in St. Petersburg.
State Secretary Worms spoke of a "dictatorship by a dictator". It is still unclear whether this is an "expropriation in our sense" for the airport operator Fraport. The company had been removed from the operating company of Pulkovo Airport and forced into a new holding company that is unknown for the time being. According to the Hessian Ministry of Finance, the state of Hesse, which holds a stake in Fraport, is waiting for a government decree from Russia with further information.
The outgoing head of the Left Party parliamentary group in the Hessian state parliament, Jan Schalauske, said that at least "morally" he sees damage to Fraport's reputation, as there have been repeated reports about the military use of Pulkovo. Russia has been waging a war of aggression against its neighbor Ukraine for almost two years.
Western companies have therefore withdrawn en masse from Putin's giant empire. Many sectors of the Russian economy are subject to Western sanctions as a result of the war. Putin repeatedly ordered forced administrations in order to secure the operation of factories and companies as well as jobs.
After the outbreak of war, Fraport declared its intention to withdraw from the operation of Pulkovo Airport. Recently, the head of the Russian bank VTB, Andrey Kostin, stated the value of Fraport's share in Pulkovo Airport at 111 million euros. The Hessian Ministry of Finance did not confirm the sum, but told the German Press Agency: "This investment has been written off and has an asset value of zero in the Fraport balance sheet."
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Source: www.stern.de
