The Nürburgring has bought the insolvent Hunsrück Airport Hahn. According to information from the German Press Agency on Friday, a notarial contract for a purchase price of around 20 million euros was recently signed. The money is already in a so-called escrow account. The Ring holding company NR Holding, headed by the Russian Viktor Charitonin, has thus entered the airport.
The pharmaceutical entrepreneur is not on any EU sanctions list for Russia, which is waging a war of aggression against Ukraine. Insolvency administrator Jan Markus Plathner initially did not comment on the sale. NR Holding informed the dpa: “Yes, we have concluded a contract. However, this is subject to various conditions precedent.” This means above all the creditors’ meetings of four Hahn sister companies scheduled for next Tuesday before the Bad Kreuznach insolvency court.
“We will not comment further at the moment,” added the Ring holding company. The Federal Ministry of Economics could still examine the sale to the legendary Eifel race track Nürburgring in accordance with the Foreign Trade Act.
As early as June 2022, Swift Conjoy GmbH in Frankfurt bought Hahn Airport with a notarized contract as the highest bidder at the time – but according to information from the German Press Agency, never paid the purchase price. Insolvency administrator Plathner was upset about it. He could possibly claim damages against Swift Conjoy. The Frankfurt company has not responded to several dpa inquiries.
The rather remote Hahn Airport is a former US military airport with a checkered history. The only major airport in Rhineland-Palatinate has no rail connection, but a rare and coveted night flight permit. The state of Hesse acquired a 17.5 percent stake in Hahn Airport a long time ago. NR Holding also took part in the bidding process for the airport, which had already gone bankrupt in autumn 2021, but offered less money than Swift Conjoy. Therefore, the Nürburgring did not get a chance at first, but after the Frankfurt company defaulted, it reappeared behind the scenes.
The racetrack, like the airport, was once state-run and then insolvent. Today, as a private company, it has a number of economic pillars from motorsport and so-called tourist trips from amateur racing drivers to company events and the Rock am Ring music festival.
In March 2022, shortly after Russia’s attack on Ukraine, a spokesman for the operating company of the almost 100-year-old Nürburgring said: Together with Charitonins Holding, “we stand for bringing people from all over the world together – far removed from their origin, skin color, preferences or religion”. Russians and Ukrainians would also come to the Nürburgring.