Kaskol has plans to develop the heavy lift specialist.

Published: 5/11/2000

The purchase of a 16% stake in Volga Dnepr reflects the Kaskol Group's long-term ambition to become involved with the development of the heavy lift specialist, according to Igor Ignatiev, Kaskol's Vice-President for Corporate Strategy. Ignatiev said that negotiations for the purchase took place over a year and were only concluded when a plan was agreed between the two parties for the development of the carrier. Sergei Nedoroslev, President of Kaskol, will sit on the Volga Dnepr board and, according to Ignatiev, will become involved in the plans for strategic development. Kaskol believes that the heavy lift cargo market will continue to grow strongly and Volga Dnepr is a market leader is the sector. Predictions from the Institute of Transportation are for annual growth of 13% through to 2003. The primary drivers for the market include the delivery of relief supplies and the growing demand from the space industry for super heavy lifts. Some 6% of Kaskol's stake in Volga Dnepr was acquired from individuals and Russian companies, the largest contributor being Aeroflot which held around 5% of the carrier before the transaction. The balance of the stock came from the Ukranian State Property Fund, which held the stake on behalf of Motor Sich, the state-owned Ukranian engine producer. The Ukranian government had looked to sell the stake earlier in the year, but an independent valuation was required to set the undisclosed price. According to Sergey Shorokhov of Volga Dnepr, Kaskol and Volga Dnepr have been involved for some time through the now defunct cargo carrier Titan, which operated An-124s. Through Titan, Kaskol was also the end customer for one of the two An-124-100 airframes at Aviastar, which Volga Dnepr has subsequently taken over with funding from Sberbank. The Kaskol Group includes a number of companies from within the engineering and aerospace sectors, including producer Sokol, and has been involved in several investments in aerospace such as Myashishchev's development of the M-102 Duet.

Article ID: 1751