Авиакомпания «Волга-Днепр»: История и Деятельность

Russian airline

Volga Dnepr Airlines, LLC (ООО «Авиакомпания «Волга Днепр») is an airline based in Ulyanovsk, Russia. It specializes in providing air charter services through all cargo aircraft certified for global operations. Volga Dnepr Airlines serves governmental and commercial organizations in the petrochemical, energy, aerospace, agriculture, and telecommunications industries well as humanitarian and emergency service organizations with its services through its 17 aircraft fleet. Its main base is Ulyanovsk Vostochny Airport (ULY), Ulyanovsk and it has a hub at Krasnoyarsk Yemelyanovo Airport (KJA), Krasnoyarsk. The airline also operates an operations base in Houston, Texas, USA at George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

In August 1990, the airline was created as a joint stock company by its major shareholders: aircraft manufacturer Aviastar, aircraft manufacturer Aviant (now known as Antonov Serial Production Plant), aircraft design bureau Antonov Aeronautical Scientific Technical Complex (now known as Antonov State Company), and aircraft engine manufacturer Progress Design Bureau (now known as Motor Sich). It started operations in October 1991, when it carried 120 ton cargo from Amsterdam to Almaty. In April 1995, the airline hosted a meeting of companies involved in the design, manufacturing, and operation of the An 124, creating a Joint Coordination Council to plan and implement improvements for that aircraft model. In November 1996, Volga Dnepr began scheduled passenger service between Ulyanovsk and Moscow, using Yakovlev Yak 40 aircraft. In the following year, Volga Dnepr expanded its scheduled passenger service to include St. Petersburg and Sochi, as well. In 1997, the airline joined ATRAN and Atlant Soyuz to form an Association of Air Cargo Operators to represent the Russian cargo industry in negotiations with regulators. Aviastar sold its 34% holding in the airline to Russian insurance firm NIK in 1999. In April 2000, the privately owned Russian defense industry investor Kaskol Group acquired a 16% stake in the airline, of which the majority was from the Ukrainian state property fund. Kaskol later raised its stake to 49% of the airline. At the end of 2005, Kaskol sold its stake in the airline, due to its discontent with the company's management's strategy.

The airline terminated its joint venture with HeavyLift on 1 February 2001, with the stated reason to enable the airline to attract the investment that it needed to expand its fleet. The airline also set up marketing subsidiaries in London, UK and Houston, Texas. In 2001, the Volga Dnepr Group was formed, with Volga Dnepr Airlines being its first company and the key element of its chartered cargo subgroup. In 2004, the Group created AirBridgeCargo to be the key element in the Group's scheduled cargo services subgroup. In 2002, the airline suspended funding of an An 124 100M being produced by Aviastar due to a dispute between Aviastar and local politicians in Ulyanovsk in which the local government seized the aircraft. According to Volga Dnepr, the founder of Aviastar refused to bribe local politicians and businessmen to secure their cooperation. Volga Dnepr threatened to move its headquarters from Ulyanovsk at the time, saying that the airline was well known for having "a clear accounting system and good business reputation", and that it would move "from Ulyanovsk in order to preserve these qualities". The dispute was resolved and the airline resumed funding production of the aircraft. The airline began flying chartered missions for the US Air Force Air Mobility Command in 2003, eventually ferrying thousands of tons of vital military equipment to U. S. operating forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2005, the airline established a subsidiary in Houston, Texas that committed to making An 124 aircraft available to Air Mobility Command in the event of a national emergency, qualifying Volga Dnepr to bid for cargo charters from Air Mobility Command and other US government agencies. In 2005, the airline and its Ukrainian competitor, Antonov Airlines, formed a partnership, Ruslan SALIS, which signed a three year contract with NATO to provide strategic airlift services to the alliance's Strategic Airlift Interim Solution (SALIS). The contract was renewable through 2012 and required Ruslan to maintain two An 124 aircraft in a ready state in Leipzig, Germany, with an additional four An 124 aircraft available if needed. Antonov Airlines terminated its joint venture with Air Foyle HeavyLift on June 30th, 2006, to pursue a joint marketing venture with its competitor, Volga Dnepr Airlines. This venture was named Ruslan International, and it aimed to build on the success of their previous Ruslan Salis collaboration. In 2007, Volga Dnepr and its Irish subsidiary were debarred from U. N. contracting after it surfaced during the trial of Vladimir Kuznetsov, formerly the highest ranking Russian diplomat at the United Nations, that bribes were paid to Alexander Yakovlev, a U. N. procurement official, and laundered by Kuznetsov. Kuznetsov was found guilty and Yakovlev pled guilty, and testified against Kuznetsov, for crimes of fraud and money laundering related to the bribes. Both were imprisoned as a result. Yakovlev claimed to provide consulting services and billed in excess of US$700,000 to Volga Dnepr in order to help them win tenders. The Office of Internal Oversight Services Procurement Task Force found that, between March 2000 and November 2004, Yakovlev received funds exceeding US$1.8 million into an off shore bank account from Volga Dnepr and ICT, a company working on contract procurement for Volga Dnepr at the time. The report found that the actual sum received could be even higher, as the sources for substantial other sources of funds could not be identified. In a response letter to the report, Volga Dnepr admits to making payments to Yakovlev, but insists Yakovlev was a paid consultant, and the company was unaware of involvement or influence over the bidding process. In the same period, The UN contracted over US$134 million to Volga Dnepr. The World Bank has listed Yakovlev and Kuznetsov as corruption case asset recovery targets for the Stolen Asset Recovery Initaitive. As of 2019, following years of sustained effort to institute extensive measures (e. g., external annual audits and a strong Code of Ethics) to address and ensure proper employee conduct in procurement matters. Volga Dnepr was awaiting UN action on its request for reinstatement as a UN vendor. In 2011, ATRAN became a 100% subsidiary of Volga Dnepr Group. In December 2012, Ruslan Salis' NATO contract was extended through the end of 2014, having previously been extended in 2008 and 2010. Prior to the annexation of Crimea, it appeared likely that the contract would be extended for yet another two year term. In early 2015, without notice to the company or affording the company an opportunity to be heard, US TRANSCOM removed privately owned Volga Dnepr from its approved airlift vendor list together with several government owned Russian flag air carriers. Despite a FOIA action which it eventually abandoned, Volga Dnepr never received a United States Department of Defense explanation for its removal from the TRANSCOM vendor list. From the redacted reports obtained by journalists, however, it was heavily implied, but never proven, that Volga Dnepr was blacklisted by the US military for delivering Russian built fighter aircraft on behalf of Rosoboronexport to Vietnam in December 2014. Notably, during that same year, the U. S. Army took delivery from Rosoboronexport of the last lot of Russian built Mi 17 helicopters (45 in all) which it had purchased for transfer to Afghanistan, and U. S. Secretary of State John Kerry lifted U. S. sanctions against Vietnam. In August 2015, Volga Dnepr paid $11,250 for a speaker's fee for Michael T. Flynn's appearance at a Washington, D. C. event on economic security in the Middle East it co hosted with another American company. Danny Yatom, former director of the Israeli Mossad, was also a distinguished guest at that event. The event was held nearly 6 months after Volga Dnepr was removed from the TRANSCOM vendor list. In 2020 during the COVID 19 pandemic, Volga Dnepr Group's scheduled cargo carriers, AirBridgeCargo and ATRAN operating Asia Europe, Asia North America and Europe Russia routes though their Moscow hub, tripled their e commerce package volumes. In July 2021, Volga Dnepr stated that it is preparing to place its first bond issue worth up to US$96.4 million to refinance its existing debt. As of March 2022, Volga Dnepr's subsidiaries AirBridgeCargo and ATRAN were both forced to suspend all operations due to sanctions against Russia.

The airline began flying chartered missions for the US Air Force Air Mobility Command in 2003, and opened a US based subsidiary in Houston, Texas in 2005, further committing resources to Air Mobility Command in the event of a national emergency.) which were all domestic destinations along the Volga river. Service was offered using the airline's small fleet of Yakovlev Yak 40's to Nizhniy Novgorod, Penza and Ulyanovsk.

In the spring of 2023, the Canadian government imposed sanctions against Volga Dnepr, accusing the company of participating in Russian invasion of Ukraine and servicing the Russian PMC Wagner. An An 124 100 150 aircraft belonging to the company (tail number RA 82078) was seized at Toronto Airport. The authorities plan to confiscate the plane and transfer it to Ukraine. In November 2023, Volga Dnepr sued the Canadian government. The company claims that the decision was made in error and that the accusations are groundless.

On 24 July 1992, a Volga Dnepr Antonov 12BK flight was damaged beyond repair after straying off course while trying to circumnavigate a thunderstorm, 26 km SE of Skopje Airport, Macedonia The airplane impacted a mountain near Lisec village; there were eight fatalities. On 31 March 2007, an Antonov An 124 Ruslan operated by Volga Dnepr Airlines inbound from Greer, South Carolina, landed on runway 03/21 at Gander International Airport but failed to stop and ran off the runway. On 13 August 2012, a Volga Dnepr Ilyushin Il 76 overran the runway on landing in St. John's, Newfoundland. The occurrence aircraft landed with a tail wind that far exceeded the aircraft manufacturer limitations. On 26 February 2013, a Volga Dnepr Antonov An 124 cargo plane arrived at Kazan International Airport (KZN) following a flight from Ulyanovsk (ULY). While taxiing to its stand, the left wing tip of the An 124 struck the top of the fuselage of a parked Yakovlev 42 belonging to Tulpar Air. In November 2019, an Antonov An 124 made a hard landing while delivering a General Electric GE9X engine for the Boeing 777X program from GE Aviation to Boeing, damaging the delivered engine in the process. On 13 November 2020, An 124 100 RA 82042 operating Volga Dnepr Airlines Flight 4066 suffered damage from a runway excursion at Novosibirsk Airport on an emergency landing after the No. 2 engine suffered an uncontained failure. On 25 November, the airline grounded its entire fleet of An 124 aircraft, but one An 124 returned to service on 29 December.