UPDATE 4: Investigators detain VIM-Avia CEO, chief accountant; owners flee

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MOSCOW, Sep 28 (PRIME) -- CEO and chief accountant of troubled Russian airline VIM-Avia were detained, while its co-owners have fled the country, the Investigative Committee’s official representative Svetlana Petrenko told reporters on Thursday.

“Within the framework of a criminal case on passenger money theft… CEO of the mentioned company Alexander Kochnev and Chief Accountant Yekaterina Panteleyeva were detained,” she said.

Investigators will soon press charges, and after that request court arrest them, she said.

“Co-owners of the company Rashid Mursekayev and Svetlana Mursekayeva have fled the country in a hurry, and they are now in a foreign country according to data of investigators. We are now taking measures to disclose their location,” she said.

A source close to the management of the air carrier told PRIME that VIM-Avia cooperates with investigators and continues to function. “The company is functioning. The investigative activities are going on, we cooperate with them, but it has no impact on flight operations and flight security,” the source said.

An official representative of the company said that the airline is operating as usual and is doing everything possible to organize its flights.

Kochnev’s lawyer Mikhail Voronin said that the CEO thinks that the charges are absurd. “He has not given any testimonies yet, he is physically unable to do so because he has been in the Investigative Committee since yesterday. He will define his line of defense later, but the charges were completely unexpected and he thinks they are absurd,” Voronin said.

The airline has been delaying a large number of flights since mid-summer, and on Monday it admitted it had no money to continue its activities and it would have to stop charter flights. The Investigative Committee launched a criminal case against the airline accusing its managers of stealing money of passengers. The Prosecutor General’s Office launched an inspection of the airline previously.

A source familiar with the matter told PRIME that investigators may put co-owners of the carrier on the international wanted list after arraignment and arrest them in absentia.

BANKRUPTCY SUIT AGAINST AIRLINE

Late on Wednesday, the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA), the bankruptcy manager of Mosstroyeconombank (M-Bank), filed a bankruptcy suit against Vim-Avia to the Arbitration Court of the republic of Tatarstan on behalf of the bank over the airline’s 88.347 million ruble debt.

But on Thursday, the DIA decided to recall the suit until the government defines its position on the motion.

“Taking into account social tensions around the activities of airline VIM-Avia, the bankruptcy manager of the bank has decided to request the court to recall the suit until the government defines its position. These actions will allow us to ensure legal interest of citizens and to make decisions that are the most efficient for all participants of the bankruptcy proceedings,” the DIA said in a statement.

A source close to the airline told PRIME that the company expected the DIA to cancel its bankruptcy suit after the air carrier receives state guarantees.

On Tuesday, the airline asked for state guarantees to buy fuel, and a source close to the management of the air carrier said that the company asked for 800–840 million rubles state guarantees.

EMERGENCY MEASURES

Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov ordered the government to bring home passengers of VIM-Avia whose vacation has finished and who can’t leave their resorts first.

“During the launch of the emergency response center, Sokolov highlighted priority goals. First, we have to bring back all tourists – passengers of VIM-Avia whose vacation has come to an end and the date of the flight has come,” the ministry said in a statement.

At the same time, authorities should focus on transportation of passengers of scheduled flights of the air carrier on the domestic and international routes. And only after that authorities will work with passengers of charter flights that are yet to fly, the ministry said.

Zhanna Terekhova, advisor to Sokolov, said that the minister has cancelled his scheduled visits to Russian regions in order to solve the problems with transportation of the airline’s passengers.

(58.0102 rubles – U.S. $1)

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