News / Exclusive: Russian government rejects plan to take over Volga-Dnepr

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The future of troubled Russian carrier Volga-Dnepr is once again in doubt after the country’s Ministry of Transport rejected a proposal for it to go into government hands. 

Founder Alexei Isaykin was believed to have offered the carrier group to the government in an attempt to mitigate any potential penalty from a lawsuit brought by the prosecutor general. 

However, in a document seen by The Loadstar, the deputy minister of transport VV Poteshkin said the ministry had reviewed the carrier’s application “regarding the voluntary renunciation of ownership rights”. 

It said: “Over 35 years of operation, the airline has developed a stable management system capable of adapting to external challenges, including sanctions pressure from unfriendly states. The entry of the Russian Federation into the capital of the “Volga-Dnepr” group of companies, under the current sanctions restrictions imposed by Western and unfriendly countries, would not fully correspond to the development strategy of the holding, which is based on the implementation of an anti-crisis model of air cargo logistics.  

“The Ministry of Transport of Russia considers it inappropriate to accept the proposal to transfer the “Volga-Dnepr” group of companies into the ownership of the Russian Federation.” 

It added that the Federal Air Transport Agency, Rosaviatsiya, supported this position. 

The decision was not welcomed by Volga-Dnepr insiders. One said: “This is bad. The prettier the picture looks outside, the worse it is inside.” 

The rejection leaves Volga-Dnepr in a precarious position. It is continuing to pay wages to its 1,500 staff, said one source, and that remained a priority.  

The source said there were fears that the founder Mr Isaykin, and potentially his family, could be imprisoned following the court case, which remains pending. While the details of the court case are unclear, Volga-Dnepr faced a raid on its offices last winter. 

“The government offered freedom in exchange for the company, but hardly anyone now is able to run aviation. Isaykin should have left the country.” 

Mr Isaykin is thought to be about 73 years old. The source added: “There is no way he’ll last a month in prison, even though Russian prisons are better now.” 

When asked what could happen next, the source said Mr Isaykin would still not be able to hold on to the company.  “What other scenarios could there be? Interesting question. I really don’t know – but I hope the situation isn’t fucked.” 

The airline group is thought to have struggled financially since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which led to it being forced out of western markets, while facing increased regional competition from Chinese airlines. 

Sources told Russian media last month that “the company has no market value, and it will be difficult to find a buyer on the commercial market”. 

One source said: “It’s sad. Everything Isaykin has done over all the years, building this company, has now gone down the sink.”