Moscow nationalizes Domodedovo Airport, another example of strategic asset seizure
The takeover was carried out on the grounds that the airport is run by foreign nationals. An unprecedented wave of nationalizations is underway, with more than 400 companies confiscated since the start of the Russian invasion, totaling more than 2% of GDP.
The Russian state has just taken over one of its largest international airports. In a single judgment handed down on June 17, Domodedovo Airport—the last remaining fully privately owned airport in Moscow—was transferred to the state. This is a major nationalization, described by the independent Russian investigative website Agentstvo as “the largest since the beginning of the war.” The total value of the 25 companies comprising the holding company that controlled the Moscow airport “amounts to more than 1 trillion rubles” (approximately 11 billion euros).
The court order was executed “immediately” via the state registry, explains Vedomosti , a Russian business daily. This seizure is not due to “the quality of services, flight safety, or transport security,” notes the director of the specialist website Aviaport, Oleg Panteleev, quoted by Vedomosti. The reason given by the prosecutor's office is the nationality of the shareholders: Dmitry Kamenshchik, the airport's long-standing owner, holds Turkish and Emirati passports, while his partner, Valery Kogan, is an Israeli resident.
Three countries that the Kremlin accuses of "following the West's aggressive policy aimed at inflicting a defeat on Russia," recalls the Gazeta.ru portal . The prosecutor's office also claims that these men tried to transfer profits abroad under the guise of dividends.
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