State-owned oil giant Rosneft and businessman Roman Trotsenko's airport investment company, Novaport, could purchase Moscow's second-largest airport, Domodedovo, Prime reported Monday, citing sources at the airport, Novaport and in the government.
The parties are discussing an acquisition deal worth $4.7 billion. Of this, $2.5 billion concerns Domodedovo's refueling complex, which will be snapped up by Rosneft. The rest of the assets will pass to Novaport, which owns and runs a number of airports in regional Russian cities.
The parties signed a memorandum agreeing the sale two months ago, Itar-Tass reported. An airport industry source told Interfax that the companies are now finalizing the price, the memorandum having been concluded one month ago.
Negotiations over the sale of Domodedovo have been ongoing since shortly after a terrorist incident at the airport in 2011, Prime reported. The government, seeking to place responsibility on the airport's ownership in the aftermath of the incident, found itself unable to identify the beneficiary shareholder.
The name of the owner — Dmitry Kamenshchik, head of East Line Group and owner of a $1 billion fortune — was revealed by Domededovo only in the middle of September 2013. The nudge that facilitated this coming out was the government's decision to make its plans for large-scale investment in the capital's airports contingent on the identification of beneficiary shareholders.