Ust-Ilimsk Airline in Eastern Siberia verging on bankruptcy as suppliers refuse to provide fuel

Published: 9/28/1999

According to press agency Teleinform, the Ust-Ilimsk Airline in the Irkutsk Region in Eastern Siberia is on the verge of bankruptcy. It reported that, on 13th September 1999, the airport stopped servicing flights, following the refusal of aviation fuel suppliers to provide fuel on account. Ust-Ilimsk's present predicament is despite a number of attempts to pull it back from the brink, most notably in the form of support from the Pulp and Paper Plant (LPK), Ust-Ilimsk's biggest company, and plans to reconstruct the airport's debts. In the mid-1990s, Ust-Ilimsk benefited from both city and private investment, which helped it become a major airport, with a terminal modelled on Shannon and the capability to handle Boeings and An-124 Ruslans. Now, owing to the combination of a worn out fleet of Yak-40s and An-24s, the scrapping of flights to St Petersburg, Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Novgorod, a succession of management reshuffles and the August 1998 financial crisis, the airport's debts amount to several million rubles. The restructuring of the airport's debts could still save it from bankruptcy. Ust-Ilimsk's location close to high levels of natural resources could help it survive as an aviation base for mining and oil companies . Its future now lies in the hands of the creditors, who held a meeting on 17th September to determine its fate.

Article ID: 911