airport operator
Fraport cannot get out of the concession contract
The airport company presents its business figures and reports on its business in Russia. Photo: Boris Roessler/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Fraport has a 25 percent stake in St. Petersburg airport. The CEO announced that they would resist a possible expropriation by the Russian state, saying that they had nothing to give away.
According to its own estimates, the Frankfurt airport operator Fraport cannot part with its 25 percent share in Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg, Russia.
According to the concession agreement, this is not possible, said CEO Stefan Schulte on Tuesday when the balance sheet was presented in Frankfurt. The Fraport boss announced that they would resist a possible expropriation by the Russian state. He said: “It would be perverse to give the aggressor Russia an asset in the low three-digit million range.”
According to Schulte, the MDax group also sees an obligation to its shareholders to protect the company’s assets. The main owners of the infrastructure company, which has debts of 6.4 billion euros, are the state of Hesse and the city of Frankfurt.
Business in Russia is on hold
Fraport had already declared almost two weeks ago that business in the second largest city in Russia would be on hold, that it would no longer provide consulting services and that operational know-how would no longer be transferred. As a minority owner, you are not in a position to dismiss individual managers, Schulte replied to a corresponding question.
Fraport AG has been a minority shareholder in the airport operator Northern Capital Gateway via a holding company in Cyprus since 2009 and has been involved in the expansion of Russia’s fourth largest airport in recent years. A few years ago, the Fraport share was reduced from 37.5 percent to 25 percent. The concession runs until 2040. Other owners are VTB Bank, which is affected by western sanctions, and the Greek Copelouzos Group.