Russia sells fourth-biggest airport seized in nationalisation bid

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MOSCOW — One of Russia's biggest airports, Moscow's Domodedovo, has been re-privatised and sold to a managing company of the country's busiest airport, Sheremetyevo, the buyer said on Monday.

In June, a Russian court ruled ownership of Domodedovo, the nation's fourth-busiest, be nationalised and transferred to the state.

It found that its two owners, Dmitry Kamenshchik and Valery Kogan, were foreign residents who had no right to manage the infrastructure asset.

Sheremetyevo, "represented by its wholly owned subsidiary Perspektiva LLC, and Bank PSB PJSC announce the signing of an agreement for the sale of Domodedovo Airport," it said in a press release.

The airport was sold at the second attempt for about $850 million -- almost half the initial asking price of $1.6 billion.

Sheremetyevo is majority-owned by the private company TPS Avia Holding and the Russian government, which holds a 30-percent stake, according to the Russian business outlet RBC.

TPS Avia Holding was moved back from Cyprus to Russia in 2022, and the Russian media mentioned Arkady Rotenberg, a close associate of President Vladimir Putin, among the shareholders of the firm.

Billions of dollars' worth of assets have been confiscated by the Russian state since Russia sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, including those belonging to Western firms like French dairy group Danone and German energy firm Uniper.

Moscow argues the nationalisations are fair and remedy botched privatisations that took place during the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, but critics say they have deterred long-term investment in Russia.