Holding Airports of the Regions of the Renova Group received a 20% stake in Surgut Airport. Until now, the main contender for the airport with a passenger traffic of 1.7 million people per year was Novaport Roman Trotsenko, and the holding still does not give up this idea. But in the "Airports of the regions" are already planning far ahead, intending to build a new terminal in Surgut and develop other airports in the region.

The fact that the "Airports of regions" (part of the Renova group of Viktor Vekselberg) acquired 20% of Surgut airport, "Yevgeny Chudnovsky, the general director of the holding, told Kommersant. The share was bought from private persons, the deal was closed at the end of 2017, its amount is not disclosed. Mr. Chudnovsky added that "the authorities of the region have a real request to improve the quality of transportation and changes in the aviation infrastructure of the district." Therefore, "Airports of the regions" are considering the possibility of building a new terminal complex at Surgut airport and are interested in participating in the "integrated development of the airport component of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District". Nine airports, two landing sites and more than 80 helicopter pads are now operating on the territory of the district. Three international airports in Surgut, Nizhnevartovsk and Khanty-Mansiysk provide more than 80% of all passenger and cargo air travel.

Surgut Airport is the largest in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District, following its results in 2017 its passenger traffic grew by 15.7%, to 1.7 million people. About 20 airlines perform flights from the airport to more than 100 destinations. The largest carrier is Utair, which accounts for 50.3% of passenger traffic in 2017. The revenue of the airport in 2017 - 3.3 billion rubles., Net profit - 48.5 million rubles.

However, the ownership structure of Surgut airport remains confused, and the balance of power in its capital is not fully understood. As of the end of 2017, the owners of OJSC "Surgut Airport", according to SPARK-Interfax, were Tyumen LLC "Solar" and LLC "Valento" from the Moscow region (24% each, beneficiaries - Cypriot offshores), another 15% from an unnamed citizen Russia, 8% from Utair, 5% each from Kogalymavia and Gazprom Transgaz Surgut.

Another 19% of shares belonged to the DIZO of the Surgut administration, which was liquidated in February 2016. To whom the package was transferred, it was not disclosed, the "Surgut Airport" itself last published its accounts for the year 2015. At the same time, as follows from kartoteka.ru data, Valento also owns 25% of the shares in the Tyumen airport Roshchino, which is officially controlled by Roman Trotsenko's Novaport, and since December 2017 is in the process of liquidation (for a long time its founder was the Cyprus Adalenta Holding , since January 2017 - Vitaliy Shportenko).

It was Novaport that was still considered the most likely potential investor of Surgut airport. In mid-2017, the KhMAO authorities said they were negotiating the transfer of a share of shares to Novaport. However, officials promised to conduct a "comprehensive examination", since "it is important that the new player does not begin to form an unfair tariff policy of air transportation in the district." Now in "Novaport" they only say that "there is no solution to Surgut".

A source familiar with the situation, Kommersant notes that air transportation in the region is constantly supported by federal and regional subsidies: "It is clear that in the eyes of the investor this is a solid support for the development of the airport project." According to the Ural news agency Znak, annually for flights in the region, regional authorities allocate Utair from the budget of 500 million rubles. Last week, the governor of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District Natalia Komarova reported that Utair will present in March 2018 a plan for the development of air transportation in the district, which she commissioned last autumn.

In Rosaviatsia, Kommersant was informed that flights to Surgut are carried out within the framework of the decree on the development of the regional route network. In 2017, subsidies to Surgut flew "UWT Aero", Nordstar and S7, carrying out flights from Kazan, Bugulma, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Norilsk and Perm. At the end of 2017, the amount of federal subsidies amounted to 357.3 million rubles. At the beginning of 2018, flights to Surgut are subsidized from Kazan, Krasnoyarsk and Perm, flights are performed by YUVT Aero, Nordstar and Rusline. But now the financing is less than 122 million rubles., Specified in the department.

The executive director of the "Airport" Oleg Panteleev explains that Surgut airport is "an important transport hub of the oil-producing region with a good prospect of growth in passenger traffic." In its present form, the expert adds, the infrastructure is clearly obsolete and insufficient, especially for servicing international flights. At the same time, notes Mr. Panteleev, the package of 20% is, in fact, a statement of intentions, only a controlling stake will allow to fully influence the development of the airport.