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Transaero Gets Taipei Back
The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosavia) has returned Transaero's license for Moscow-Taipei flights and ordered the payment for Taiwanese use of Russia's airspace ($6-8 million per year) from transferred from state accounts to that of the airline. Thus, Russian state structures will have no relations with Taiwan, which is not recognized by the People's Republic of China. The restoration of the air route became possible only with the personal intervention of Transport Minister Igor Levitin and the departure of former Rosavia head Nikolay Shipil, who had taken away Transaero's license.
The Moscow-Taipei route was initiated in 2002 on a charter basis and a regular weekly flight began in January 2004. Transaero, Russia's sixth largest carrier with 14 planes, is controlled by Alexander Pleshakov and his wife Olga. It was also the authorized collection agent for the Taiwanese EVA Air and China Airlines, collecting the fee from those companies for airspace usage, for a commission. Shipil refused to renew the Moscow-Taipei license last fall, officially because of irregular flights, but there was insider talk of personal conflicts. Transaero filed suit against the Taiwanese carriers. However, only after the direct action of Levitin and the dismissal of Shipil (whose relations with the minister were difficult as well) was the situation cleared up. Levitin issued an order in August to extend Transaero's license and “create a legal basis for flight payments on the territory of Russia by Taiwanese airlines within the framework of the September 2004 agreement between the governments of Russia and the People's Republic of China.”
Representatives of the Interior Ministry, Transport Ministry, Rosavia and Transaero met last week under the aegis of the Moscow-Taipei Coordinating Commission on Economic and Cultural Cooperation and decided to return the flight fees to Transaero and renew Moscow-Taipei flights, in return for which Transaero would cease its court action.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Sep. 14, 2005
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Photo: Alexey Kudenko
