Published: 4/24/1998

24th April 1998 - Issue 57 Novosibirsk-based Sibir (Siberia in Russia) airline and the Atlas Project Management plc of the UK have signed an agreement on long-term co-operation. The British consulting company will help improve the airline's management, marketing and operational activities. Natalia Filyeva, director for management at Sibir, hopes that the rich experience of Atlas, especially on financial and operating lease deals, will help the airline to become one of the leaders in Russian civil aviation. According to Sibir, its fleet of over 30 Il-86, Tu-154B/M jets and An-24/26/32 turboprops can fulfil 60% of the demand in the local market for air conveyance. Together with Novosibirsk regional administration, Sibir has drawn a fleet renewal programme, which will be launched this year. Peter Smith, general director of Atlas, claims that with support from its consultancy, Sibir has real chances to get an access to western financial resources. Today, Sibir is the seventh largest Russian passenger operator with an annual turnover of $100m. Last year the company carried 600,000 passengers. However, due to high competition on the most important route linking Novosibirsk and Moscow, Sibir's operational losses in 1997 amounted to $2m. This, coupled with poor management and badly-organised hard currency operations, necessitated changes in the list of company's shareholders. At the beginning of 1998 a considerable interest in Sibir was acquired by "Eurofinance - Novosibirsk" investment company. The new shareholders set a task to turn the company into a profitable business able to compete with the best Russian and foreign operators. "We acquired Sibir shares not for financial speculation, but in order to create a subject of pride for the region and for the whole of our country", said Vladislav Filyev, representative of "Eurofinance - Novosibirsk" in the airline. On 8 April, the Federal Aviation Service of Russia approved appointment of Vladislav Filyev as the new general director of Sibir, which took place on 5 March at the meeting of the company's control board. "The basis of our new strategy will be to fulfil demands of passengers with simultaneous efforts to provide access to air travel for wide social groups of population", said Vladislav Filyev after his appointment. (VK) (IN498.3)

Article ID: 139