A1, the investment vehicle of Alfa Group owned by Russian tycoon Mikhail Fridman, has applied to Vnesheconombank (VEB) for a loan to buy Moscow’s Domodedovo airport, VEB Deputy Chairman Mikhail Poluboyarinov said on Wednesday.
“We have received an application from A1 for a loan and are now examining the financial model and cash flows,” he said. “A preliminary expert study is underway, which will take one or two weeks to be followed by a comprehensive study. We have no deadlines. A comprehensive study takes at least three months.”
Poluboyarinov said the application was filed about a month ago.
Banking sources reported in early 2012 that shareholders of Domodedovo, Russia’s largest airport, expected to sell the airport and related assets for $5 billion.
Market experts think Domodedovo’s owners want to sell the airport to avoid possible nationalization, which has been discussed as part of the government’s plan to unify the three Moscow airports, Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo, in one air hub and gain control over it.