Gazprom gets into the airport business, but is it in it to make money?

Published: 8/15/1999

According to a report in Reuters, Gazprom, Russia's largest company is in the process of completing the construction of its own Moscow airport. Gazprom spokesman, Vladimir Yuryev, said that: ” The airport, called Ostafyevo, 25 km to the southeast of Moscow, is the sole property of Gazprom and its Gazpromavia airline. Its two-kilometre runway was already being used by Gazpromavia and Ministry of Defence cargo aircraft, and, in the future, it would be open to other operators”. Gennady Khramtsov, aide to Gazpromavia's general director, said the airline was using Ostafyevo as a base for sending specialists to northern Russia, and for helicopters making local flights. He added that the landing strip would be extended to three kilometres in order to handle larger planes, so making it an attractive option for large commercial passenger and cargo airlines. Khramtsov further commented that Gazprom was considering building another airport, possibly somewhere in Siberia, near its gas fields. Given the relative overcapacity of the airport market in the Moscow region and the number of schemes currently underway to expand or introduce both cargo and passenger capacity over the next five years, this appears a commercially questionable move for Gazprom. It may, however, have less to do with economics and much more to do with Gazprom's political muscle, and its efforts to control all aspects of its business independently.

Article ID: 752