The general director and chief accountant of Vim-Avia have been detained, and the co-owners of the Mursekaevs are being sought. The general director and chief accountant of Vim Avia have been detained, the co-owners of the Mursekaevs are being sought Co-owners of Vim Avia

Moscow, news September 27, 2017. Rashid Mursekaev offered to sell the airline for 1 ruble. The owner of the VIM-Avia airline was invited to a meeting on the situation around the air carrier on the morning of September 27, but did not attend the meeting and probably left Russia. The head stated this Federal agency air transport(Rosaviation) Alexander Neradko, speaking in the State Duma.

He emphasized that Rashid Mursekaev offered to sell the airline for 1 ruble. On September 25, the Vim-Avia company announced the cessation of operating activities and that it could not carry passengers due to debts. According to the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency, at that meeting Mursekaev said that he was “tired of working in aviation, and he is ready to sell his business for a ruble.”

Neradko said that Mursekaev was repeatedly called to the Federal Air Transport Agency, where he reported that the financial and economic condition of the airline was stable, and the cessation of operating activities was not predicted.

“However, last week the owner of the airline turned to the Federal Air Transport Agency with a request to assist in negotiations with creditors on the allocation of additional borrowed funds to support operating activities,” Neradko noted.

He emphasized that his department tried to provide such support, but on September 25, Mursekov announced the cessation of operations and the inability to carry out flights in Russia and abroad due to the company’s financial debts to suppliers.

According to Neradko, at a meeting of VIM-Avia owners and creditors, Mursekaev said that he was tired of working in aviation, he was ready to sell his business for a ruble and part ways.

“I assume that he is no longer on the territory Russian Federation. I guess,” Neradko said.

Law enforcement agencies cannot contact the co-owner of the VIM-Avia company, Rashid Mursekaev. According to some reports, he flew from Vnukovo airport to Turkey, presumably to Istanbul.

Rashid Mursekaev and his wife Svetlana Mursekaeva are the owners of 100% shares of VIM-Avia airline.

Airplanes of VIM-Avia, which has now ceased charter flights, were arrested at airports in Turkey and Belgium, said the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency Alexander Neradko, speaking in the State Duma.

“It is now clear that the airline will not be able to fly out charter passengers on its own. For debts, her planes were arrested at the airport of Antalya and Dalaman of the Turkish Republic, as well as at the airport of Liege (Belgium - editor's note),” Neradko said.

At the moment, according to two major tourism operators alone, over 4 thousand tourists from Moscow and St. Petersburg are waiting for their flight in Turkey, who were supposed to fly home on flights of VIM-Avia, which has ceased all its charter programs. VIM-Avia airline to six banks.

There are still no free capacities on the aviation market for these tourists and operators, in accordance with their obligations, cannot currently guarantee them a flight to their place of permanent residence in the coming days. Tour operators are now making every effort to find at least some acceptable options, but so far there are no available planes.

Moreover, each day of waiting adds to the indicated number of new non-flying tourists - next group the rest is ending,” the Association said in a statement.

According to Sergei Tolchin, Deputy General Director of the tour operator NTK Intourist, as cited by ATOR, the situation clearly requires emergency government intervention to resolve the issue.

Earlier it was reported that due to problems with the company, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced to the head of the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation Maxim Sokolov about incomplete official compliance.

Investigators in the VIM-Avia case are finding out how the co-owners brought the airline to collapse and where they could have hidden assets and money. It is possible that Rashid Mursekaev guessed about the imminent collapse of the airline business and withdrew assets ahead of time, including through relatives and proxies. According to one version, the money went to Luxembourg - there Mursekaev’s son-in-law (or his full namesake) discovered an offshore. And Mursekaev’s daughter sold her billion-dollar fuel company a few weeks before the collapse of VIM-Avia. A month earlier, the company that was created to manage the carrier’s finances went bankrupt. Both stories involved the Mursekaevs’ long-time business partner Sergei Galan.

Strong family business ties

Most of Rashid Mursekaev's companies are family-based. Even in VIM-Avia the main owner is not he, but his wife Svetlana. His two sisters, for example, owned real estate companies.

Rashid Mursekaev

And in 2014, the businessman’s daughter also went into business. Anna Ambrosova (Mursekaeva) founded the fuel company FT International while still in her fourth year at MGIMO. Just two years after its creation, FT International was earning 2.5 billion a year. The second co-owner was Anna’s husband, 25-year-old graduate of the Higher School of Economics Nikolai Ambrosov. He is the son of Mursekaev's long-time business partner, Evgeny Ambrosov. Together, at the beginning of the 2000s, they managed a large maritime hub in Russia - the Far Eastern Shipping Company.

Presumably, the daughter’s fuel company also made money from the sale of kerosene at the Bratsk airport in Irkutsk region. This airport has long been owned by the Mursekaev family - first through the Invest Holding office, and now through VIM-Avia.

Bratsk is a small but important hub, used by transatlantic flights for refueling, and by the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations for extinguishing fires in the taiga and for observation flights. "VIM-avia" needed it as a transshipment point for refueling and maintenance of its Chinese flights: they started their business with charter flights To China. And this airfield is halfway from Moscow to China. Experts say you can make money from it by selling fuel.

The main income there is from refueling helicopters and planes, says Boris Rybak, head of the consulting company Infomost.

Despite good financial performance, in August of this year Anna Ambrosova and her husband unexpectedly decided to sell FT International. It’s interesting that by that time my father’s airline was just beginning to have problems with debts for aviation kerosene. If we assume that the Mursekaevs guessed about the imminent collapse and were preparing to flee abroad, then this step looks like getting rid of Russian assets. Especially considering the buyer's personality. It was Moscow businessman Sergei Galan, an old acquaintance of the family. The offices of his companies are even located in the same business center as the Mursekaevs.

It is interesting that a month before the buyout of FT International, Galan, through Technopolis, which he controlled, bankrupted the very Mursekaev company that originally owned the Bratsk airport. We are talking about "Invest Holding". The Mursekaevs created it 10 years ago to manage assets and securities, in a word, for management and operational support of VIM-avia. According to the Kartoteka.ru database, last year Invest Holding showed a net profit of 9 million rubles. However, for some reason he did not have enough million to pay off certain obligations to Technopolis on time. The court materials do not say what exactly Invest Holding owes for.

Offshore latitudes

The family's foreign assets may also be of interest to investigators. At one time, the airline was 20% owned by a Liechtenstein firm called Hercules Partners Fund. This may indicate, at a minimum, that the Mursekaevs have connections there, and at maximum, that part of the profit was transferred there.

And now, thanks to the Mossack Foneska database, it has been possible to find out that a person with the same first and last name as Mursekaev’s son-in-law is connected with an offshore company in Luxembourg. This is a company called Aloma S.A. Nikolai Ambrosov is its beneficiary. The investigation will have to find out whether the company is really controlled by Mursekaev’s son-in-law or simply by his namesake. To do this, a request can be sent to Luxembourg through Interpol.

Estimated place of registration of the offshore:

Aloma has chosen the largest French Credit Agricole as its correspondent bank. “Correspondent bank” means that all payments were made through it, and, most likely, the company’s funds are stored there. It is located in the same building that occupies the Luxembourg branch of the bank.

Experts are divided

Some experts say that this whole path of bankruptcies, changes of owners and offshore companies could serve to withdraw assets. The Mursekaevs understood that the airline might soon go under, and were preparing the ground for withdrawal. Thus, the chairman of the National Anti-Corruption Committee, Kirill Kabanov, is confident that the owners of VIM-Avia did not plan to save the airline.

The owners of VIM-avia acted according to a well-known fraudulent scheme. We obtained loans against guarantees of property (liners) in four banks (according to preliminary data from the investigation, these are Sberbank, Absolut Bank, VTB and Zenit), Kirill Kabanov told Life.

According to the chairman of NAC, most likely, the Mursekaevs took most of the bank funds abroad. And this process began not now, but three years ago, when the owners began to obtain loans from large Russian banks, Kabanov believes.

There are questions for the supervisory authorities who poorly controlled the movement of funds from the airline’s bank accounts, notes the head of NAC.

However, other experts believe that the Mursekaevs did not plan to leave the country hastily. According to the expert, editor-in-chief of the Aviatransport Review magazine Alexei Sinitsky, most likely the reason for the collapse of VIM-Avia was a lack of working capital due to the desire to earn the maximum during the high season.

The owners did not calculate their financial capabilities. The money that the airline received for tickets sold during the autumn-winter season was not enough to pay off creditors, Sinitsky suggests. “There could have been a cash gap, and then everything just fell apart.”

Sinitsky is sure: the Mursekaevs hoped that banks would support them with loans, and Domodedovo Airport would continue to be serviced on credit.

Autumn is always a financially difficult time of year, and the owners of VIM-avia could not find a way out of this situation, the interlocutor sums up. - But it seems that they fought until the last for the survival of the company and did not plan to leave Russia in advance.

Flew away, but did not promise to return

Whether the Mursekaevs planned to leave the country or not, they did it. According to the Investigative Committee, the family flew out of Russia early last week. Presumably, they flew to Turkey immediately after they publicly announced the pre-investigation check of the Investigative Committee.

Türkiye usually cooperates quite willingly with Russian security forces. That’s why Life, in its previous article about VIM-Avia, said that a family can move from Turkey to the UAE, Great Britain or Uzbekistan.

They still have some real estate assets in Russia. Thus, Svetlana Mursekaeva is registered in an apartment two steps from Arbat. Mursekaev's son Rashid and daughter Anna own shares in this apartment. The apartment building in Skatertny Lane was built at the beginning of the last century, and in the 2000s it was restored and turned into a club. Now there are only 12 apartments, each with an average of 200 square meters and a price of at least 200 million.

Apartment of the Mursekaevs in Skatertny Lane:

From Arbat, through Moscow traffic jams, the Mursekaev children traveled to their place of study. Both entered MGIMO. Moreover, Rashid was recommended for enrollment with only 65 points for the Unified State Exam in Russian.

Mursekaev Jr., unlike his sister, has not yet completed his studies. On his way to university, he sometimes breaks the rules traffic. He drives recklessly, drives in oncoming traffic and shows disrespect for other drivers. At the beginning of 2017, he did not give way to a car with special signals. This is stated in the materials of the capital's courts. True, it does not say who exactly Rashid did not give way to - the ambulance or the police.

Based on the judicial database, Life counted four fines against him in the amount of 18 thousand. He did not pay them on time, which doubled the fine and left the guy with a debt burden.

In this sense, Mursekaev Jr. followed in his father’s footsteps. Mursekaev Sr.’s problems also began because of debts. This led to the collapse of his business, criminal cases, and thousands of our compatriots could not return home on time.

The first wave of claims hit his company in May: the carrier delayed dozens of charter flights across the country. Then the company justified itself by the fact that allegedly not all planes managed to return from scheduled maintenance.

The second wave turned out to be the last for the company. Fuel suppliers and airports said that VIM-Avia owes them more than half a billion and they do not intend to borrow more fuel. And in August-September, all departments began to make claims against VIM-avia: Rostransnadzor, Rosaviatsiya, Rostrud, the Prosecutor General's Office, the Investigative Committee.

Co-owner of VIM-Avia Rashid Mursekaev and his wife Svetlana, who also has a stake in the airline, left Russia on September 26; on September 25, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case for fraud against the management of VIM-Avia. According to investigators, airline officials, having no money and contracts for the purchase of fuel for aircraft and “the ability to fulfill obligations to transport passengers,” continued to sell air tickets and received “for this by deception cash in the amount of over 1 million rubles."

Mursekaev’s departure became known on the evening of September 27, Interfax sources and the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency Alexander Neradko reported this. “Mursekaev left the country on Tuesday, flew away from Sheremetyevo,” they said. “According to some reports, he flew from Vnukovo to Turkey, presumably to Istanbul.” Neradko, speaking in the State Duma, said that Mursekaev was called to a special meeting due to flight delays, but he did not show up. “He stopped answering phone calls,” Neradko said. “I assume that he is no longer on the territory of the Russian Federation.” Then RBC sources confirmed that “Mursekaev and his family left the country” by flying to Istanbul.

On the morning of September 27, Mursekaev was supposed to appear at a special meeting in the State Duma and pay the airline’s operating expenses in the amount of 50 million rubles from his personal money, said the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency Neradko.

Previously, Neradko said that VIM-Avia had accumulated a huge debt for aviation fuel, because of this, on September 23, the airline had to postpone 15 of its flights indefinitely. On Monday, September 25, it delayed another 20 scheduled flights and canceled all charter flights. In addition, the remaining VIM-Avia flights had to be moved to Vnukovo because Domodedovo (the airline’s home airport) refused to refuel its planes on credit. Despite all the problems with paying for fuel, the airline continued to sell tickets for its flights.

Neradko also stated that according to the results of the last financial audit of VIM-Avia in 2016, no problems were identified with the airline. Russian President Vladimir Putin reacted harshly to his words. He demanded the development of new airline inspection criteria that would better identify financial problems. He also told Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov about a “complete official discrepancy” and criticized Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, who oversees transport, for failing to cope with the situation.

At a meeting with the government, the head of state harshly criticized the situation around the VIM-Avia airline. “We have now discussed this with the Prime Minister, I draw the attention of the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of transport: you are not paying enough attention to this industry. Not enough. Maybe you are too overloaded? We have already talked about this,” the president addressed Arkady Dvorkovich.

“And I want to tell the minister [Maxim Sokolov]: I am announcing to you that you are not fully qualified for official duties,” the head of state addressed the head of the Ministry of Transport.

In addition, Putin criticized the ministry’s criteria, which did not prevent the crisis surrounding the airline.

“Yesterday we talked with the Minister [of Transport] about this. Maxim Yuryevich [Sokolov] told me that this company fully met all the criteria [for carriers],” Putin said at a meeting with members of the government. “He knows my reaction, I won’t repeat [it], but I will repeat in one part: if you have developed such criteria, then what are they worth?” – the president asked the question.

Putin demanded that Sokolov “quickly and effectively” solve the problem around VIM-Avia and present proposals to strengthen regulation of the air transportation sector.

TASS, September 27

Due to delays in VIM-Avia flights, about three thousand people were injured on September 23, and due to the cancellation of all charter flights two days later, up to 80 thousand people were injured. Press secretary of the Russian Union of Travel Industry Irina Tyurina said that this number includes VIM-Avia passengers who had already flown on vacation or were planning to go on vacation before the end of the season. Moreover, if those who were just getting ready to go on vacation can get their money back for unused trips, then for those who have already flown to it, they now need to urgently look for free planes. Rostourism had to create operational headquarters on the return of Russian clients of VIM-Avia from abroad (there are 43 thousand of them, according to Tourpomosch).

Other Russian airlines have agreed to operate regular flights of VIM-Avia: " Ural Airlines", i-Fly, Red Wings, Nordstar, "Icarus", " North wind" and "Yakutia". Their costs will be compensated from the federal budget; about 200 million rubles will be allocated for this.

As stated in the Ministry of Transport, the transportation of passengers on regular VIM-Avia flights will be carried out until October 15, and from October 16 it will be stopped. Passengers who have tickets for a regular flight dated from October 16, the Ministry of Transport advised to return them to the ticket office at the place of purchase.

September 28, 10:31 Business FM reports that VIM-Avia co-owner Rashid Mursekaev is in Russia and is being questioned by investigators. There is no confirmation of this information from other sources yet.

The owner of VIM-Avia, Rashid Mursekaev, did not leave Russia. According to Business FM, Mursekaev is now being interrogated by Investigative Committee investigators. This was reported by sources close to the situation.

VIM-Avia CEO Alexander Kochnev was detained. Searches of key airline employees were also carried out at night.

Business FM

September 28, 11:28 General Director of VIM-Avia Alexander Kochnev and chief accountant of the airline Ekaterina Panteleeva were detained as part of a criminal case, the Investigative Committee reported. The department denied the information that Mursekaev is in Russia (previously reported by Business FM).

They will be charged in the near future, after which the investigation plans to petition the court to impose a preventive measure against the defendants in the criminal case.

The co-owners of the company, Rashid and Svetlana Mursekaev, hastily left the country, and according to the information available to the investigation, they are abroad. In this regard, measures are being taken to establish their whereabouts.

Vim-Avia is a major air carrier. The company is registered as a Limited Liability Company. Today this organization operates flights to various destinations. Organized regular flights to other cities of Russia, to different countries and cities of Europe and Central Asia. The company is based at Moscow Domodedovo Airport. Vim-Avia airline code:

1. IATA – NN.
2. SKAO – MOV.
3. Internal – NN.

The company began its activities in 2002. Its creator is V.I. Merkulov, who was previously the director of the Aerofreight company. The initials of the full name of the company founder were taken as the name of the organization (VIM).

Whose airline is Vim-Avia? Today, all its shares belong to the spouses Rashid Mursekaev and his wife Svetlana. The company specializes in charter and scheduled domestic and international passenger flights.

Airplane "Vim-Avia"

Story

When planning a flight to another city or country, the first thing you need to choose is a carrier. When choosing, many people ask themselves: what kind of airline is Vim-Avia? To understand what this organization is, you need to learn about how it arose and developed.

The company received the right to carry out passenger transportation at the end of 2003. An operator's certificate was issued in November. At that time, the company had only 4 aircraft in its fleet, which were used primarily for flights to Asian countries. Flights were carried out to China, Thailand and Vietnam from Moscow. The aircraft carried out not only passenger but also cargo transportation.

2 years after its inception, the carrier began to implement a large-scale project to replace and expand its aircraft fleet. 12 Boeings were purchased from Lufthansa, which were characterized by economical fuel consumption and increased comfort for passengers. After purchasing new aircraft this carrier managed to take a leading position among other airlines in operating tourist charter flights to Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey from Moscow.

Also, after expanding the transport fleet, Vim-Avia began to operate flights to Western Europe, mainly in popular tourist cities and resorts. Thus, this company managed to outstrip some other carriers using the Il-86 in terms of the number of flights and passenger turnover. Due to noise restrictions, such planes could not carry passengers to countries such as Italy and Spain. Therefore, new flights from the Vim-Avia company have become in great demand among tourists.

In subsequent years, there was a gradual increase in passenger traffic. The number of flights to different destinations also increased. In particular, by 2010 the company carried out seasonal air transportation from different cities Russia to Greece, Bulgaria, Spain, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco. In 2013 the company transported by aircraft more than 1.5 million people j. Almost 9,000 flights were carried out in 1 year. In the same year, the organization began implementing a fleet expansion program. Many negotiations were held with various aircraft suppliers, both Russian and foreign. The company signed an agreement to purchase 4 new Airbuses, which are used not only for flights on existing routes, but also for flights on new routes.

In 2015, the number of passengers transported already exceeded 1.6 million people. In addition to regular passenger flights, the carrier continued to implement socially significant programs. Air transportation of children-athletes, creative groups, children and parents was carried out within the framework of various social projects.

Vim-Avia flight attendant uniform

Flight crew and transportation safety

The Vim-Avia company has its own aviation training center (ATC). The main task of the ATC is to implement vocational training programs. To train and improve the qualifications of aviation specialists, the carrier has the necessary licenses and certificates. IN training center training, retraining and advanced training of specialists who work in the company are carried out. In addition, specialists undergo training abroad.

Law enforcement agencies cannot contact the co-owner of VIM-avia, Rashid Mursekaev. The head of the Federal Air Transport Agency, Alexander Neradko, suggested that the entrepreneur was no longer on Russian territory. According to him, the owner of the airline was invited to a meeting on the situation around the company. He did not come to the meeting. Neradko stated this during a speech in the State Duma.

“Yesterday, by telegram, the owner of the VIM-Avia airline was invited today at 8 o’clock to a special meeting due to the fact that he committed from his own funds today to pay current expenses to maintain operating activities in the amount of 50 million rubles. The owner of the airline did not show up for the meeting, stopped answering phone calls, and also stopped answering calls from the airline secretariat,” Neradko explained.

Two knowledgeable sources also told Interfax that he could leave the country. “We haven’t been able to contact Mursekaev since the morning, his phones are switched off,” one of the sources said. According to another source, Mursekaev is on this moment is located in Istanbul. “According to some reports, he flew from Vnukovo to Turkey, presumably to Istanbul,” he said. According to another agency source, “Mursekaev flew away from Sheremetyevo.”

Vedomosti was unable to contact Mursekaev; his phone number is temporarily unavailable.

Rosaviatsia provided the Investigative Committee with all Required documents about the airline’s activities, Neradko clarified.

State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin ordered the urgent development of bills to prevent a repetition of the situation with VIM-avia. It is necessary to “develop proposals that we could urgently consider as legislative initiatives in order to prevent a repeat of what happened,” he said. “The bad thing is that we constantly step on the same rake, this is unacceptable,” Volodin stated.

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced to Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov that he was not fully qualified for his duties.

“I am informing you of incomplete official compliance in connection with the situation with VIM-Avia,” TASS reported Putin’s words from a meeting with members of the government. Putin also reproached Dvorkovich for “not paying enough attention to the transport system.” “We have now discussed this with the Prime Minister, I would like to draw the attention of the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of transport... Maybe you are too overloaded? We have already talked about this,” the president said.

On September 25, Monday, Domodedovo and other airports stopped accepting VIM-Avia flights. The company experienced financial difficulties, in particular a lack of working capital. On the same day, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case into the theft of funds from passengers by VIM-Avia officials. According to the investigation, no later than September 22, the airline’s management “had a criminal intent aimed at stealing passengers’ funds through deception on an especially large scale.” The Investigative Committee established that VIM-avia officials knew about the lack of money to purchase fuel at airports. However, the company continued to sell flight tickets, “receiving funds in the amount of over 1 million rubles through fraud.”

By the end of the season, the airline must transport from 50 to 80,000 passengers to and from resorts. In total, tickets were sold to more than 190,000 passengers, Interfax notes.

On September 26, Sokolov stated that the Ministry of Transport does not intend to save VIM-avia. “State support is already meaningless, because the company has practically stopped working,” TASS reported his words.

The press service of the Federal Air Transport Agency announced on September 26 that some of VIM-Avia’s passengers were ready to transport “ Ural Airlines", "iFly", "Red Wings", "Nordstar", "Icarus", "North Wind" and "Yakutia". These airlines will be reimbursed for their costs. The 2018 budget provides 200 million rubles for this, the department clarified. Some of the passengers will be transported by VIM-Avia itself, mostly charter passengers, noted the Federal Air Transport Agency. These flights will be financed from extrabudgetary sources. Top manager major airline previously told Vedomosti that at a meeting in the Federal Air Transport Agency it was said that management of VIM-avia could go to Aeroflot and its subsidiary, Rossiya Airlines.