Russian Govt May Charge Fees to Develop Moscow Airports

Russia's Transportation Ministry and the Federal Antimonopoly Service have prepared a draft government ruling introducing a fee for airlines aimed at raising funds to develop the Moscow aviation hub, daily newspaper Izvestiya reported on Monday.

The suggestion was written in a report submitted by the ministry to the government. The document said that the tariff may be charged as a certain amount of payments or a part of revenues from using infrastructure. The fee will be a compulsory condition of access to services provided by natural monopolies at airports.

The ministry confirmed to the newspaper that the negotiations with the government had taken place. International practice shows that fees are charged from all commercial organizations operating in an airport as an additional source of funding to develop infrastructure, a ministry spokesperson said.

A source close to the ministry said that airlines will be allowed to include the expenses on the fee into the price of tickets.

"The ministry has not determined yet the model of development of the Moscow hub and the volume of funds required for these purposes. That is why mechanisms of introducing the fee and rules of its charging are still unclear," a spokesperson for the Federal Tariff Service told the newspaper.

The spokesperson said that the current system of tariffs enables airlines to take into account resources for the development of infrastructure as well.

At present, the Moscow aviation hub comprises three airports: Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo, and Vnukovo.

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