Vim aviation management of the company. Russian airline "VIM-Avia"

The owners of 100% of the shares of VIM-Avia airline are Rashid Mursekaev and his wife Svetlana Mursekaeva.

General Director Kochnev Alexander Yakovlevich.

Fleet

Boeing 757 of VIM-Avia airlines

According to the official website, the airline's fleet as of June 2010 consists of 11 Boeing 757-200 aircraft. Previously, the Yak-42, Il-62 and Tu-154 aircraft were operated.

Activity

VIM-Avia airline specializes in charter flights. On November 1, 2007, VIM-Avia was named by the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency, Evgeny Bachurin, as one of the airlines that most often delays departures of charter flights. As punishment for such violations, the Federal Air Transport Agency planned to limit the number of charter flights of this carrier for the 2007/2008 winter season by 15-25%.

Routes

VIM-Avia carries out passenger and cargo transportation from Moscow and is one of the largest charter carriers in Russia. The share of regular flights as of February 1, 2010 was only 32.4%.

At different times, the company’s route network included the cities of Barnaul, Irkutsk, Bratsk, Sochi, Omsk, Ufa, Magadan, Vladivostok, Chelyabinsk, New Urengoy, Khabarovsk, Ulan-Ude, Magnitogorsk, Khanty-Mansiysk, Beloyarsky, Yakutsk, Norilsk, Blagoveshchensk, Magadan, etc.

Recently, the airline has again been actively developing domestic air transportation, for example, having started flying in 2010 from Moscow to Sochi, Yekaterinburg and Krasnodar, by the spring of 2011 the airline has regular flights to Khabarovsk, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Magadan, Chita, Barnaul, Omsk, Sochi and Novosibirsk, and the number of flights to Yekaterinburg and Krasnodar, due to their high popularity and occupancy, increased to two per day.

Performance indicators

Company employees said they were unable to contact the CEO. The airline still has not paid wages and debts to creditors

Updated at 19:01

The new general director of VIM-Avia and his deputy have disappeared. They have not been in contact for three days, the airline team notes. Employees fear that the lack of management may affect the court's decision on the payment of back wages.

Earlier, Deputy General Director of VIM-Avia Bogachev assured the team that he would take all possible measures to pay off the debt. The total salary arrears to the staff of the VIM-Avia airline is about 700 million rubles.

Perhaps they simply turned off their phones for May, but most likely they are hiding, suggests independent analyst Dmitry Adamidov:

Dmitry Adamidovindependent analyst“I think that people are worried, of course, not out of nowhere. If you have taken up this position, then there is probably no need to hide. Yes, it’s a little strange, but in general the whole story with VIM-Avia is strange, so it’s quite in line. In essence, the new management is not like a bankruptcy trustee, but these are just managers who are called upon to somehow resolve the accumulated problems, to sort out how, I don’t know, they go bankrupt, why a temporary administration that is simply collecting assets, collecting claims creditors, their payment, etc. In essence, VIM-Avia, with the exception of some nuances from the management, has approximately the same task, especially since they cannot fly. Nothing operational can be done anymore; it’s purely paperwork. Maybe we went on vacation and turned off our phones, this could also happen.”

President Vladimir Putin, by decree, lifted the disciplinary sanction against Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov, imposed on him in September 2017 due to the situation around VIM-Avia. What this could be connected with says: Chief Editor portal Avia.ru Roman Gusarov:

Roman Gusarov editor-in-chief of the portal Avia.ru“I still regard this decision as a kind of signal or, let’s say, an action to the effect that when distributing portfolios and appointing a new cabinet of ministers after May 7, Sokolov’s candidacy is considered as a candidate for one of the leadership posts. Maybe within the framework of the future cabinet of ministers, maybe within the framework of other government bodies. The very fact that this penalty has been lifted from him opens the way for him to new appointments.”

New managers were appointed to VIM-Avia after the company’s co-owner Rashid Mursekaev left the country and was arrested in absentia by the police. A case of embezzlement was opened against him.

In October 2017, the airline suspended flights due to financial difficulties. Currently, VIM-Avia's accounts payable amount to about 10 billion rubles.

On Friday, September 29, the court sent them to house arrest. As the press secretary of the Basmanny Court clarified to Gazeta.Ru, Panteleeva and Korchnev were assigned a preventive measure in the form of house arrest until November 25.

After massive delays and cancellations of VIM-Avia flights, a criminal case was opened against them under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“fraud”).

Meanwhile, the co-owners of the VIM-Avia airline and Svetlana Mursekaev have left the country and may be put on the international wanted list.

The problem with VIM-Avia flights began last week. On Monday, September 25, the airline announced that it was ceasing charter flights due to financial difficulties. refused to service the planes of the troubled carrier due to debts, and as of Tuesday VIM-avia relocated to.

The Ministry of Transport has created an operational headquarters to solve problems with the transportation of passengers who have already paid for VIM-Avia tickets, pay off wage arrears for the carrier’s employees and resolve the crisis situation. The Prime Minister signed an order on Thursday to allocate 98 million rubles. from the government reserve fund for the maintenance of VIM-Avia aircraft.

To transport VIM-Avia passengers abroad, primarily in Turkey, S7 and .

On Friday it was announced that, on instructions from President Vladimir Putin, to Antalya for export Russian tourists two Tu-214 special flight squad "Russia" were sent, serving the top officials of the state.

Some tour operators independently take measures to remove their clients from vacation spots.

Due to the current crisis situation, I signed a decree on disciplinary action against the head.

Since Friday, the Federal Air Transport Agency has been publishing on its website the daily flight schedule of regular and charter flights of VIM-Avia.

A repayment schedule for existing debts for fuel and airport services is currently being agreed upon. The new management of the company is cooperating with law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation, the company assures.

In the footsteps of Transaero

On Friday, Alexander was appointed the new general director of VIM-Avia. According to a representative of VIM-Avia, he was appointed “to resolve the crisis situation that has developed in the airline.”

Alexander Burdin was the general director of AK for almost two years, which he headed after the carrier stopped operating. He managed to pay off wage debts in the amount of 4.1 billion rubles. in front of 10 thousand former employees, complete the inventory of fixed assets and collect the airline’s property to ensure payments to creditors. Before that, for two years he headed Unitile, the largest holding company in Russia for the production of ceramic building materials, and for 11 years he was deputy general director and member of the board.

At the same time, Gazeta.Ru reported that they had not received a notification from VIM-Avia about the appointment of a new general director.

According to current legislation, its appointment is accompanied by appropriate certification and inclusion in the operator’s certificate. The department said that Burdin is not currently listed there.

“We know Alexander Burdin from the situation with the Transaero airline, to which he was also appointed with the wording “to resolve a crisis situation.” As you know, Transaero was declared bankrupt in September. This specialist is unknown to the aviation community. We’ll get to know each other,” said a representative of the Federal Air Transport Agency

The executive director of the industry agency AviaPort says that Burdin is a qualified financier with extensive experience in crisis management.

“Indeed, his work in his position at Transaero at a time when the company was no longer an airline, but a legal entity with dubious prospects, was effective, he demonstrated high results, satisfying the maximum part of the claims, first of all, paying salaries,” - the expert explained.

When asked by Gazeta.Ru to comment on Burdin’s appointment, the head of the Transport and Construction Committee said that the main thing is that the personnel decisions made benefit passengers.

However, analysts do not expect any feats from the new CEO.

If two weeks ago the airline was in the hands of management and they made decisions, now the fate of VIM-Avia is in the hands of creditors and suppliers, Panteleev notes.

“If they decide that the restoration or continuation of the operating activities of VIM-Avia will reduce the debt in some future, then the carrier, under the leadership of an experienced manager, will be able to fulfill its obligations, the anti-crisis transformation program and return to life, but if a decision is made to fix losses, then no manager will help, but only a bag of money will help,” the expert sums up.

Alena Panarina, an employee of the VIM-Avia press service, told RBC that she does not comment on the movements of the owners.

According to SPARK-Interfax, Svetlana Mursekaeva owns 99% of VIM-Avia, Rashid Mursekaev - 1% (previously 20% of the airline belonged to the Liechtenstein Hercules Partners Fund Gemini-Gemini II).

On September 25, after massive delays of VIM-Avia flights and information appeared that the airline did not have the funds to pay for fuel, Mursekaev admitted that “the airline has a difficult economic situation, working capital has run out and financing has been frozen.” “Since the airline cannot operate flights without additional funding, we are exploring the possibilities of introducing external crisis management,” Mursekaev said in an interview with Rossiya 24.

On Monday, September 25, against unnamed officials of VIM-Avia under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of Russia (fraud). They are suspected of receiving 1 million rubles. through the sale of tickets, knowing at the same time that the airline does not have money to purchase fuel and operate flights.

On the evening of September 27, an investigation into VIM-Avia officials was carried out on behalf of the head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, for the investigation of particularly important cases.

The situation with VIM-Avia on Wednesday with members of the government, which was chaired by President Vladimir Putin. The head of state expressed bewilderment at the fact that the airline, according to officials, meets all the criteria, but at the same time cannot operate.

In the early 1990s, Rashid Mursekaev was involved in the supply of food from Asia to pay off debts for the supply of Russian weapons, together with Sergei Nedoroslev (now the chairman of the board of directors of the Kaskol group of companies). The partners established the Belukha company, which bought shares of defense and aviation enterprises. Subsequently, Mursekaev went into independent business - he consolidated 68% of the shares of the Far Eastern Shipping Company, which he sold to Sergei Generalov for $60 million in 2002. In 2002, Mursekaev became a partner with the founder of VIM-Avia, Viktor Merkulov, and in 2003 bought 75% from him. in an air carrier. In 2003, as Forbes wrote, Mursekaev spent $160 million on the purchase of 12 used Boeing aircraft.

Airline "VIM-Avia"

VIM-Avia airline was founded in October 2002. The carrier operated its first flights mainly in the Asian direction (Vietnam, China, Thailand). The airline's fleet consists of Boeing 777-300, 777-200, 767-300, 757-200 and Airbus 319-111, 330-200. According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, the founders of VIM-Avia LLC are Rashid (1%) and Svetlana (99%) Mursekaevs. They are also listed as the founders of Invest Holding PJSC, which was declared bankrupt in July 2017.

Financial indicators
In 2016, the company showed a net profit of 89 million rubles. with revenue of 17.174 billion rubles. The value of assets as of December 31, 2016 was 10.481 billion rubles, and net financial debt was 7.007 billion rubles. (source: GMC Rosstat).

Transportation volumes
According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, in 2016 the VIM-Avia company transported 2.076 million passengers, showing an increase in this indicator by 30% and taking ninth place in the industry. The company itself associated this growth with the introduction of new aircraft(four Boeing 737-500, two Boeing 767-300, six Boeing 777-200 and one Airbus A330-200). From January to August 2017, the number of passengers carried continued to grow compared to the same period last year - by 31.4%. Nevertheless, the company dropped to tenth place, behind North Wind.

Airline problems
In 2016, the company had problems implementing passenger transportation. VIM-Avia allowed massive flight delays of many hours. In July 2016, Rosaviatsia warned VIM-Avia about the possibility of limiting its air operator certificate due to massive delays and gave it a week to resolve all problems. The carrier's spokeswoman noted that the delays were due to the high season and the attempted coup in Turkey. The day after the warning was issued, the company announced that the transportation situation had stabilized and reported that the problems had been resolved thanks to the introduction of new ships.

The company ran into problems again in 2017 when dozens of flights were canceled after delays in early June. A representative of Rostransnadzor then explained the failure of the charter program by delays in aircraft repairs. The number of victims due to problems at VIM-Avia in June 2017 was estimated at approximately 30 thousand people. As a result, the airline's share of delayed flights this month was 13.56%. In July-August, problems remained: in July the share of delayed flights was 13.83%, and in August - 19.45%. In September, the airline delayed more than 40% of its flights.​

In January-September 2017, the Department of State Aviation Supervision and Supervision of Transport Safety in Privolzhsky federal district carried out seven inspections at the airline, mainly at the request of citizens.

Today it became known about the detention of the general director of the Vim-Avia company. He is suspected of theft Money passengers. The court is expected to consider the issue of his arrest tomorrow. The chief accountant of Vim-Avia is also now answering the investigators’ questions.

Meanwhile, thousands of passengers are now waiting for their departure at airports in both Russia and other countries. Other companies, including foreign ones, are already involved in transportation.

The leaders of Vim-Avia were summoned to the Investigative Committee, first as witnesses. But after the interrogations, their status changed: from witnesses they became suspects.

“As part of a criminal case regarding the theft of funds from passengers of the Investigative Committee of Russia, the general director of the said company, Alexander Kochnev, as well as the chief accountant Ekaterina Panteleeva, were detained. They will be charged in the near future, after which the investigation plans to petition the court to impose a preventive measure against the defendants in the criminal case. The co-owners of the company, Rashid and Svetlana Mursekaev, hastily left the country and, according to the information available to the investigation, are abroad. In this regard, measures are being taken to establish their whereabouts,” said Svetlana Petrenko, official representative of the RF Investigative Committee.

The airline's general director Alexander Kochnev and chief accountant Ekaterina Panteleeva, according to their lawyers, refuse to testify at this stage. Formally they refer to fatigue. Like, more than one sleepless night is behind us. It is known that they did not admit their guilt in the fraud case. And they claim: there was no theft on their part.

Meanwhile, according to the investigation, throughout the last week, airline officials, knowing that there were not enough funds even to purchase fuel, continued to sell tickets. The Investigative Committee is now calling on all passengers who have suffered from the actions of Vim-Avia to submit appropriate applications. They will also be involved in the case.

The day before, at a meeting with the government, Vladimir Putin harshly criticized the situation with Vim-Avia: “Tens of thousands found themselves in a very difficult situation. It would be good if it was the first time, but this has been going on for years. And we just can’t develop normal legal regulation that is efficient and effective. I understand perfectly well that you want to create conditions for normal business conduct; you don’t want to burden your business with additional costs associated with various forms of ensuring people’s interests, insurance, and so on. But without this there can be no normal business either. In the end, business is not for businessmen, but for people who use these services. And I want to say to the minister: I declare you to be incomplete for service. If you deal with this situation quickly and effectively, then Dmitry Anatolyevich and I will think about what to do with incomplete service compliance. If you can't handle it, we'll think about it too. I ask you to quickly and effectively close this problem.”

After these words from the president, the Ministry of Transport and other departments are trying to quickly resolve the airline’s problems. A meeting took place today operational headquarters, which, in addition to the Ministry of Transport, included representatives of the Federal Air Transport Agency, Vnukovo and Domodedovo airports, employees of fueling companies and the Federal Tourism Agency. Fundamental decision: urgent assistance will be provided primarily to those tourists who cannot return home from abroad.

“Now we are faced with the task of bringing our tourists from abroad. A large number of We are now in Turkey. This is the first priority. At the same time, regular flights and passengers on regular flights will also be transported. And only after this we will begin the program of operating those flights for which passengers have purchased tickets, but the date has not yet arrived,” said the adviser to the Minister of Transport Russian Federation Zhanna Terekhova.

The return of people who are currently vacationing in foreign resorts, but must fly out in the near future charter flights to Russia, the Association of Tour Operators of Russia will also be involved.

“Unfortunately, it is simply technically impossible to cope today with the help of the tour operator community. Therefore, lists are now being formed and a queue is being formed. Those tourists who did not get on their flights abroad continue to relax today at the expense of tour operators. I don’t know how much, so to speak, this vacation is pleasant or unpleasant for them, but in any case, tour operators provide hotel accommodation and meals,” said Alexander Osaulenko, director of the “Tour Pomosch” association.

According to the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, a detailed action plan for the removal of Russian tourists with VIM-Avia tickets from Turkish Antalya and other foreign airports is being finalized. The daily flight schedule must be ready within 48 hours. As for regular flights, they will be operated until October 15 inclusive. It is recommended to return tickets for flights after this date. At the same time, the money spent should reportedly be returned. We also managed to reach an agreement with airports and fueling companies on uninterrupted service for all VIM-Avia aircraft. State guarantees provided.

“Six flights will be carried out, from Moscow three planes will go to Antalya and return passengers to Russia. They will fly back empty to Antalya today and return with passengers. In total, one and a half thousand people will be transported from Antalya. In addition, the Greek airline "Elineir" will today return 245 passengers of the airline "VIM-Avia" from Heraklion, these are also charter passengers. Passenger transportation on regular flights continues. Today the flight to Blagoveshchensk was carried out. In total, 22 regular flights are planned for today alone. Yesterday one was completed regular flight"- noted the official representative Federal agency air transport Sergey Izvolsky.

Despite the measures taken, the situation remains difficult. Tens of thousands of passengers remain abroad alone.

Many people are waiting for departure at the capital’s Vnukovo airport, which temporarily became the base for the troubled airline. VIM-Avia planes are released from here almost manually - each flight individually. The most difficult situation is with flights to Anadyr and Magadan. They were combined, but all the passengers could not fit on one plane. Nerves to the limit.

“They took my luggage, and after a while they told me: there is no way you can board the flight, there are no seats! Nobody cares how we are here,” says Angela Sekach.

“We were not provided with water or food. Nobody worries like we do here,” says Oksana Mikalyuk.

And one more nuance. Journalists managed not only to find out where the legal address of the airline, which was one of the ten largest, is located, but also to find it - a dilapidated one-story building, a garage next door. Only a sign reveals in this house, located in Tatarstan, about a hundred kilometers from Kazan, the office of a company that transported over two million passengers a year.