Travel Notes

Alfa Gets Sherry

Alfa-Eko, a subsidiary of Mikhail Fridman’s Alfa Group, won a government tender for the right to run Sheremetyevo Airport for the next three years. Alfa-Sheremetyevo head Igor Baranovsky told Reuters that his company would turn around the rundown airport, which now faces stiff competition from Domodedovo. “We’ll do a good job in these three years to turn it into a European-class airport. And if we can prove that to the government, we hope they’ll prolong our contract,” he said. Baranovsky said his company would earn about $3 million per year running the airport.

In the tender to run the state-owned airport, Alfa Group had only one serious contender: an alliance of the national airline Aeroflot, National Reserve Bank, and France’s Vinci.

In April last year, Fridman wrote to Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, asking him to assign “Alfa-Eko” the right to run the airport and promising “substantial investment” in developing the airport, as well as in the construction of a third terminal. But, as soon as the letter was sent, the National Reserve Bank announced it had similar intentions, so the government decided to hold a tender.

To participate in the tender, bidders had to be a Russian company and have assets of at least 60 billion rubles ($2 billion), have at least 15 billion rubles of cash on hand, and have a charter capital of no less than 55 million rubles. Bidders did not have to submit business plans for developing the airport. In return for its services, the managing company is to get 1 percent of Sheremetyevo’s revenue, 25 percent of annual revenue growth and 2 percent of the airport’s net profit.

The tender was announced on November 17 last year and the tender committee was composed of Sheremetyevo’s board of directors, who are state officials.

Tender results must now be confirmed by Sheremetyevo’s shareholders at a company meeting, Deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister Andrei Isayev told Interfax. If the results are confirmed, a contract stipulating specific investment projects and costs will be signed with Alfa in six months, Isayev said.

Meanwhile, Aeroflot complained that the contest was unfair, and that tender conditions were drafted to favor Alfa. “It looks like Alfa-Group’s experience in privatization of state property outweighed experience in running an airport, which we and our partners have,” Lev Koshlyakov, member of Aeroflot’s board of directors was quoted as saying in Vedomosti newspaper. Aeroflot said it would not contest the tender results, but threatened to move to Domodedovo Airport.

The right to construct a $330 million third terminal at Sheremetyevo, however, was not part of the tender and is still up for grabs. Isayev said this question will be discussed by  Sheremetyevo and Aeroflot.

Ulanova Returns

In January, a monument to ballerina Galina Ulanova was unveiled in St. Petersburg on the 95th anniversary of her birth. A monument to Ulanova was first placed on St. Petersburg’s Yelagin island in the 1930s, but it was destroyed by vandals in the early 1980s. The staff of the Academy of Russian Ballet, Ulanova’s alma mater, recently found the vandalized statue in a museum storage house and restored it at their own expense. The monument now stands in the yard of the Academy. (Itogi)

Parkers Beware

If you drive Moscow’s cramped streets, be careful about where you park your car. Some 5,000 impound lots have been created in the capital, to which illegally parked cars will be towed. The impound price has been set at R52.70 per hour (almost $2), and the towing charge is R1,809.20 ($63). This is all in addition to any fines for illegal parking. (gazeta.ru)

Better Business

Transaero has opened its own business lounge at the Domodedovo international terminal. The 160 m2 lounge can accommodate about 60 passengers, and offers a buffet, internet connected computers, laser printers, copy machines, and satellite television. Transaero is the third company to open a business lounge at Domodedovo, following Swissair and British Airways. (REGNUM)

Pricier Art

The price of admission for St. Petersburg’s Hermitage Museum increased by a factor of six for Russian citizens in January. Ticket prices increased from 15 to 100 rubles, which narrowed the twenty-fold gap between ticket prices for Russians and foreigners, who now pay 10 euros (approximately 350 rubles) each. The museum press-service said that prices for Russian visitors had not been increased for three years. An increase had been planned for 2003, but was suspended until 2004 because of the city’s 300th anniversary.

Village Soviet

Alexander Filimonov, a resident of the village of Novoye Yadrovo, Nizhny Novgorod region, has opened a museum called “The Country of Soviets” in a village house. The museum features a collection of portraits of Communist leaders, flags, badges, Communist party and Komsomol membership cards and other objects from the socialist era. Above, Filimonov and his helper carry a bust and a portrait of Lenin into the museum.