The contract with the general director of Aeroflot can be extended until 2023, Interfax reported, citing Transport Minister Yevgeny Dietrich. The Transport Ministry has already sent a corresponding proposal to the Ministry of Economic Development, the minister told the Vedomosti through his representative. The extension of the contract with Saveliev should be approved by the board of directors of the airline (51.2% in Aeroflot belongs to the Federal Property Management Agency), he added. The representative of the Federal Property Management Agency confirmed that the proposal of the Ministry of Transport was received, and the draft directive for subsequent coordination in the government was prepared. The Ministry of Economic Development and Trade did not receive any proposals on the directive, the ministry spokesman said.

The current Saveliev contract ends in October 2018. Russian President Vladimir Putin gave his oral consent to the extension of Saveliev's contract for another five years, Kommersant reported in early July, citing his sources. But there was no order, and as an alternative to the acting general director, the candidacy of the former minister of transport Maxim Sokolov was considered, the interlocutors of the newspaper added.

In "Aeroflot" Vitaly Saveliev came in 2009 from AFK "Sistema" Vladimir Yevtushenkov. In an interview with Vedomosti after the appointment, he said that he has the necessary qualities to work for the company: "I worked at the construction site for 11 years (in that year terminal D. was built - Vedomosti). It is necessary to tighten the financial part [financial indicators of Aeroflot]. I was engaged in finance in Gazprom, headed the banks "Russia" and "Menatep St. Petersburg". It is necessary to improve the IT-system. Please, was a manager at Svyazinvest. Since then, the company has increased the fleet of ships by 2 times, passenger transportation - 3.5 times, and net profit - 4 times to 532 billion rubles. according to the results of 2017.

"The contract with Savelyev is not prolonged for the first time - last time it was prolonged in October 2013. At the same time, there were no signals and grounds for the contract not to be renewed," Vedomosti's interlocutor in the government's financial and economic bloc said.

How much Savelyev gets on the post of general director, Aeroflot does not disclose. Since 2009, he has been a member of the board of directors of the carrier and received remuneration for his work in the council - all he earned thus 13 million rubles., Follows from the company's disclosures. For the past two years, he has not received a reward for his work on the council.

"Everything that has happened to Aeroflot in the past 10 years has been entirely and completely due to Savelyev," said Infomost CEO Boris Rybak. "He rebuilt the management of the airline to a centralized one, put things in order in finance (this led to an increase in capitalization) and changed the image of the airline in the eyes of passengers," Rybak said. This intangible indicator, according to the expert, led to an increase in the number of transit passengers from 3% of the total in 2009 to 30% in 2017, which gave at least 40% of the company's margin growth, Rybak said. The number of passengers in Russia, of course, is difficult to achieve, so the only correct rate was made to attract foreign customers, which became possible due to the transformation of the company, concludes Rybak.
  
The growth of operating and financial indicators in many respects to "Aeroflot" ensured the growth of the Russian market so much, Oleg Panteleev, the executive director of the "Airport" believes. The company did not always grow organically: the increase in the passenger flow of the group was helped by the creation of the loukoster "Dobrolet" (now Pobeda) and the regional carrier "Aurora", but the termination of flights "Transaero" did not pass for the company without a trace - the carrier intercepted a part of the passenger flow of the bankrupt company, says Panteleev .