Frustration mounts over delays to new Sheremetyevo terminal (303 words)

Published: 9/21/2001

The head of the administration of the Khimki District in the Moscow Region Yury Korabin, which is leasing the land to Aeroflot for its new terminal at Sheremetyevo, has stated that it is considering cancelling the 49-year lease for the 50-hectare site, as the airline has failed to re-register itself with the administration for the purposes of local taxation. However, the likelihood of the administration actually carrying out its threat seems slim, given that the airport, as it presently stands, provides over 22,000 jobs for the residents of Khimki and the adjacent town of Lobyna: a number that will undoubtedly rise when the third terminal is finally opened in 2004. Nonetheless, the administration's statements are a sign of its concern over the delays in the terminal's completion that have received some media coverage of late in Moscow and its growing frustration that the much needed tax revenues from the terminal are consequently being pushed back. The administration is also no doubt disappointed by the slow progress on the terminal's associated infrastructure that promised to provide jobs, housing and additional tax revenues to the area surrounding Sheremetyevo-3. For Aeroflot, given the delays in the construction,contractors will now not be appointed until December according to Boris Eliseev of Aeroflot, the need to register with the local authority and the associated tax liabilities is not a pressing matter. But Khimki's public irritation does suggest that its relationship with the local authorities could be better managed. Even so, the risk of cancellation is very small, particularly as the Khimki agreement was followed by a wider agreement with the Moscow Region covering a much more extensive development plan for the region, related to the new terminal and the airport overall: an agreement extracted as part of an ongoing competition between city and region for jurisdiction over the airport and its development. Aeroflot says that it expects the disagreemnt with Khimki to be resolved within 2-3 weeks.

Article ID: 2770