Vim Avia General Director Kochnev. Before testifying against Mursekaev, witness Kochnev should sleep and eat well

On Friday, September 29, the interrogation of the general director of VIM-Avia, Alexander Kochnev, and the chief accountant of the airline, Ekaterina Panteleeva, took place. After this, the investigation appealed to the Basmanny Court of Moscow with a demand to place both defendants under house arrest in the case of the theft of funds from the air carrier’s clients.

The investigation period in the case was extended until November 25, and both defendants were sent under house arrest until this date. At the same time, the chief accountant Panteleeva and her lawyers agreed with the preventive measure, and the former general director Kochnev asked the court to release him on his own recognizance. Kochnev’s defense has not yet decided on the issue of appealing the court’s decision.

At the same time, the investigation continues to identify those involved in the theft case. Thus, the number of detainees may increase.

The investigator stated in court that based on the theft of funds, it was established that the company’s management “withdrew funds abroad for the purpose of theft.”

The representative of the Investigative Committee also emphasized that the owners of VIM-Avia, Rashid and Svetlana Mursekaev, left the territory of Russia on the day the criminal case was initiated. Their location is being established.

In addition, on Friday, Alexander Burdin, who previously headed Transaero, was appointed the new general director of VIM-Avia, and the new team began conducting financial analysis and stabilizing the company’s activities.

“In order to resolve the crisis situation that has developed in the VIM-Avia airline, a new general director has been appointed - Alexander Burdin, who has significant experience as an anti-crisis manager,” RIA Novosti quotes a VIM-Avia representative.

“A schedule for repayment of existing debt for fuel and airport services is being agreed upon. The new management of the company is cooperating with law enforcement agencies,” the company said in a statement.

At the same time, the Federal Air Transport Agency stated that the agency was not informed about the appointment of Burdin as the new general director of VIM-Avia.

• Airplanes of VIM-Avia airlines
• RIA News

Presidential attention

After the Russian airline VIM-Avia declared bankruptcy, the Russian government came to the aid of passengers who cannot return to their homeland due to flight cancellations. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the dispatch of Tu-214 aircraft to Antalya, belonging to the special flight detachment (SLO Rossiya) of the Office of the President of Russia, to transport tourists.

“The special flight squad “Russia”, on behalf of the President of Russia, will send two Tu-214 aircraft to Antalya to transport passengers of the VIM-Avia airline,” said Elena Krylova, press secretary of the Presidential Administration.

The government plane made its first flight to Turkey from Vnukovo to Antalya at 13:00 Moscow time, and the second at 18:00. Thus, 320 Russians will return to Moscow.

According to the press secretary of the Russian head of state, Dmitry Peskov, Putin is constantly informed about the measures being taken in connection with the situation with the VIM-Avia airline, and he keeps the situation under personal control.

“The President is constantly informed about the measures being taken, but the main work is carried out by the government. Energetic measures are being taken there,” Peskov explained.

The day before, the Russian President took a number of steps at the ministerial level, announcing to the head of the Ministry of Transport Maxim Sokolov about incomplete official compliance.

Airline assistance

Meanwhile, Russian and foreign air carriers quickly responded to the request of the industry headquarters to help Russian passengers who found themselves without return tickets due to the bankruptcy of VIM-Avia. On Friday, UTair airline began transporting passengers from Turkey.

• UTair airline plane
• RIA News

“UTair airline began transporting VIM-Avia passengers at the request of the operational headquarters of the Ministry of Transport, which is dealing with the crisis situation.<...>Passengers with VIM-Avia tickets can fly on all regular UTair flights subject to availability,” the airline’s press service said.

On Friday at 11:30 Moscow time, a Boeing 737-500 plane took off from Moscow’s Vnukovo airport; this plane will transport Russian citizens from Antalya to Samara.

The UTair press service explained that, according to the airline’s general director Andrei Martirosov, “the airline’s cost recovery mechanism has not yet been determined, but at the moment it is more important to help compatriots return home.”

In parallel with this, Ural Airlines expressed its readiness to accept VIM-Avia passengers on its flights.

From September 29, Ural Airlines began transporting passengers with VIM-Avia tickets on its own flights. Transportation is subject to availability until October 16. VIM-Avia passengers with valid tickets are allowed to board the flight if the route indicated on the ticket coincides with the Ural Airlines route. To board a flight, VIM-Avia clients who have a valid ticket in hand must contact the Ural Airlines representative offices at their airports,” the company’s press service reported.

• Airplane of Ural Airlines
• RIA News

At the moment, there are free seats on airliners flying from Simferopol to Yekaterinburg and Moscow. Ural Airlines is ready to “pick up passengers flying to Domodedovo (Moscow) and Koltsovo (Ekaterinburg) airports.”

S7 Airlines also volunteered to help by organizing additional flights from September 29 to October 10.

On a daily basis there will be a flight on the route Moscow - Simferopol - Moscow, and from October 1 to 10 - a flight Moscow - Sochi - Moscow. The planes will be sent along the route Moscow - Simferopol - Moscow on September 30 and October 2; October 2 - Moscow - Yerevan - Moscow and Antalya - Moscow; October 3 - Antalya - Moscow and Moscow - Nizhnevartovsk.

Also on topic

The general director and chief accountant of the VIM-Avia airline were detained in a fraud case, the Investigative Committee reported...

Advisor to the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency Sergei Izvolsky said that airlines such as Royal Flight and Azur Air have joined the transportation of VIM-Avia passengers. "Urals" are still transporting people from Barcelona, ​​EllinAir - from Thessaloniki, the Turkish Global Atlas - from Antalya to Samara, the flight is planned today (September 29. - RT),” he explained.

About 600 Chinese citizens affected by the suspension of the charter program of the VIM-Avia airline will return to their homeland this coming Saturday and Sunday, the Interfax-Tourism portal reports.

According to the Ministry of Transport, in just one day on September 28, almost 4 thousand VIM-Avia passengers were transported. More than 2 thousand were transported by the airline itself, 1.25 thousand by other Russian airlines, 548 passengers by foreign air carriers. 36 flights are planned for September 29: 22 regular and 14 charter, of which 16 are domestic scheduled flights, six are international scheduled and 14 are international charters.

Bankruptcy and fraud of VIM-Avia

The airline officially admitted on September 25 that it does not have the finances to continue operating. Management said it would stop operating charter flights.

The total debt of VIM-Avia for services, fuel, airport and ground support for flights is about 1.3 billion rubles. Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich signed a document according to which the board of directors of Aeroflot on September 28 was to approve the allocation of funds to the airline to finance operational and financial activities, which it could compensate for through mutual settlements with the industry.

A criminal case was initiated against VIM-Avia under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Fraud”). On Wednesday, September 27, official representative of the RF Investigative Committee Svetlana Petrenko reported that, on instructions from the head of the department, Alexander Bastrykin, the case was transferred to the central office of the Investigative Committee. According to the investigation, since September 22, airline officials, knowing that there were not enough funds to purchase fuel, continued to sell tickets for flights, receiving over 1 million rubles for them.

MOSCOW, September 29. /TASS/. The Basmanny Court of Moscow placed Alexander Kochnev, general director of VIM-Avia, accused of fraud with the airline's funds, under house arrest until November 25.

“The court decided to satisfy the investigation’s request and choose a preventive measure against Kochnev in the form of house arrest for a period until November 25,” judge Elena Lenskaya announced the decision.

The judge also noted that while under house arrest, Kochnev can visit medical institutions to provide qualified assistance, having previously notified the investigative authorities. Otherwise, the court imposed standard restrictions on Kochnev - not to leave his place of residence, not to communicate with the media, not to use the Internet and not to send mail. The court also did not allow him to take walks.

On Friday, the airline's chief accountant, Ekaterina Panteleeva, was also placed under house arrest until the same date. She did not object to this preventive measure. The accused will be under house arrest in her Moscow apartment. She is prohibited from contacting other defendants in the case.

The airline's management carried out the withdrawal of the company's assets with the aim of their subsequent theft; the investigation also established that, not being able to provide passenger transportation services, the company continued to sell tickets, the investigator clarified in court. At the moment, “not all possible accomplices of the crime have been identified and detained,” he added.

A source close to the investigation told TASS that the investigation accuses Kochnev and Panteleeva of selling flight tickets, despite the company’s objective inability to fulfill its obligations. “Kochnev and other persons knew in advance about the poor state of affairs at the airline, but did not take measures to stop the sale of tickets, and disposed of the funds received at their own discretion,” the agency’s interlocutor said.

According to the case materials, the head of the Federal Air Transport Agency, Alexander Neradko, was questioned as a witness in this case.

The case against the defendants was initiated on September 25 on the grounds of Part 4 of Art. 159 (“Fraud committed on an especially large scale”). The maximum punishment under this article is 10 years in prison.

The investigator in court said that the owners of the airline, Rashid and Svetlana Mursekaev, disappeared exactly on the day the criminal case was opened. Their location is being established. They will be put on the wanted list as part of a criminal case of fraud, law enforcement agencies previously reported to TASS. According to the Investigative Committee, “Rashid and Svetlana Mursekaev hastily left the country; according to the information available to the investigation, they are abroad.”

Positions of the parties

The investigator asked to place Kochnev and Panteleeva under house arrest and impose standard restrictions. “Kochnev managed the company and made all significant decisions,” the investigator said, motivating the petition. According to him, Kochnev and Panteleeva “by virtue of their official position can put pressure on other defendants in the case.”

The prosecutor supported the position of the investigation in court. “The investigation materials, taken together, allow us to consider the investigation’s position as justified,” the prosecutor said.

Kochnev, in turn, asked to be released on his own recognizance to eliminate difficulties that had arisen at the airline. He added that if house arrest is chosen as a preventive measure, he asks to be allowed two-hour walks and visits to doctors. Senior partner at the Yukov and Partners Bar Association, Kochnev’s lawyer Mikhail Voronin supported his client’s statement. He also added that “(Kochnev’s) detention was carried out with violations and is illegal.”

Non-flying airline

On September 25, VIM-Avia announced the termination of all charter flights due to financial problems and lack of working capital. This was preceded by a series of flight delays at Russian and foreign airports. According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, the total debt of VIM-Avia is about 7 billion rubles.

The day before, the government allocated 98 million rubles to the Federal Air Transport Agency for the maintenance of VIM-Avia aircraft, including payment for fuel and airport and ground flight support services. According to the order signed by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, the funds will be allocated from the Reserve Fund. At the same time, the total debt of VIM-Avia for work, services, fuel, airport and ground support for flights is about 1.3 billion rubles.

And Ekaterina Panteleeva are defendants in the case of stealing money from passengers of a bankrupt carrier; they should soon be charged. At the same time, journalists discovered the registration location of the airline, which until recently was among the Russian top 10: it turned out to be a closet in a remote Tatar village.

Mikhail Voronin, lawyer for VIM-Avia CEO Alexander Kochnev, said that his client asked to postpone testifying to the Investigative Committee in a criminal case of fraud. “He... was in the UK without food, water, rest or sleep. He physically could not testify this morning, so he asked for a postponement,” the lawyer said, emphasizing that Kochnev, in principle, did not refuse to communicate with the investigation.

In turn, the lawyer of the chief accountant of VIM-Avia, Ekaterina Panteleeva, Ekaterina Pavlovskaya, told RBC that on September 27, Panteleeva, together with Kochnev, appeared at the Investigative Committee to testify. “Tomorrow there will be an interrogation and a preventive measure will be chosen,” Pavlovskaya said. The lawyer was unable to confirm the information that Panteleeva denies theft at the airline, citing a non-disclosure agreement. Earlier, the Interfax agency reported that after interrogation, which lasted all night without food or sleep, Panteleeva gave detailed testimony and explained the reasons for the mass cancellation of VIM-Avia flights.

Previously, the Investigative Committee opened a case against unnamed VIM-Avia employees under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud). They were suspected of receiving 1 million rubles for the sale of tickets, when it was already known that VIM-Avia was not able to fulfill its obligations to clients. On September 27, the case was forwarded to the central office.

The situation around VIM-Avia got worse at the end of last week. September 22 at Moscow airport Domodedovo Dozens of VIM-Avia flights were delayed both on Russian and international routes. The Federal Air Transport Agency reported that these delays are related to the airline’s unsettled debt to fueling organizations.

On September 25, one of the owners of VIM-Avia, Rashid Mursekaev, admitted that “the airline has a difficult economic situation, its working capital has run out and financing has been frozen.” On the morning of September 26, more than 20 regular flights and more than 10 charter flights of the airline were canceled in three Russian cities and six foreign countries (Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, Greece, Turkey and Cyprus). VIM-Avia has obligations to transport about 200 thousand passengers by the end of the year. Rosaviatsia appealed to several Russian airlines (among them Azur Air and UTair) in connection with the situation with the transportation of VIM-Avia passengers.

On the same day, the Federal Air Transport Agency held an emergency meeting to discuss the problem. Minister of Transport Maxim Sokolov said that the main task now is to remove from abroad those VIM-Avia clients whose vacation has come to an end. On the same day, Sokolov said that supporting VIM-Avia was pointless, since “the company has practically stopped working.”

The situation with VIM-Avia was discussed on September 27 at a meeting with members of the government, 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. Putin announced incomplete official compliance with Minister Sokolov and indicated the Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich that he is not paying enough attention to the industry. Experts note that the VIM-Avia crisis may end with Sokolov’s resignation from the post of minister.

As the agency reported " Ruspres", on the evening of September 27, the investigation against VIM-Avia officials, on behalf of the head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, was transferred to the Main Directorate of the Investigative Committee for the Investigation of Particularly Important Cases. At the same time, it became known that the owners of VIM-Avia, Rashid Mursekaev and his spouse left Russia.

Rich Subs - the heart and liver of Russian aviation

Tens of thousands of VIM-Avia clients are stuck at airports indefinitely, meanwhile the airline’s head office is registered far from the Russian capital - in the territory of the small Tatarstan village of Bogatye Saby. Reporters from the Tatar-inform news agency decided to look into this unusual location of the air carrier’s representative office and understand what the VIM-Avia office does in a Tatarstan village far from the bustle of the capital.

To get from Kazan to the head office of VIM-Avia, located in Bogatye Sabakh, it took Tatar-Inform news agency correspondents about an hour and a half by car and another hour to find the necessary building, lost among unremarkable buildings on the outskirts village

Immediately upon arrival in the area, the correspondents met a local resident working as a postman, who told her where house 1A on Stroiteley Street was located (this is the address indicated in the airline’s registration data). At the same time, the postman herself had no idea that she was at this address and was very surprised when she heard about the airline office in her home village.

Having found the required address, Tatar-inform news agency correspondents were faced with a new problem - the perimeter of the building was enclosed by a long dark green fence, the only gate of which had a padlock. They managed to enter the territory through the entrance of a neighboring site, and there the reporters met a local security guard, who reluctantly explained that it was possible to get to the VIM-Avia office.

“You can go through, there’s nothing there anyway, just a sign. They are currently undergoing renovations; the windows have recently been replaced. The room is empty, no one works there. I haven't seen them for a long time, since last year. When the sign was put up last year, they walked around there, and after that I never saw them,” said the guard.

The head office of VIM-Avia is located in a one-story building of dubious appearance - on one side there are 2 rooms (1 of which belongs to the air carrier), on the other side of the building there is an entrance for cars and a garage. A bright red sign hangs on the facade of the house "VIM-Avia". The door to the room was open; after knocking on it, journalists from the Tatar-inform news agency decided to go inside.

There they were greeted by a narrow, dark corridor filled with boxes, as well as two doors - one closed, and on the other there was a sign reading “controllers”. After knocking on the second door, we decided to go in and check for people. In a small room, about 18-20 sq. meters, two women were sitting, as it turned out - representatives of Sabine utility services. According to them, the territory and building in which the VIM-Avia office is located belongs to the Sabine MPP Housing and Communal Services, which rents out the adjacent room to the air carrier.

“We ourselves are inspectors of public utilities, otherwise the premises are rented. They (representatives of VIM-Avia - T-and's note) rarely come here, their premises are always closed, these are two men. We don’t see them, we close the door to our room, it’s cold here. Well, sometimes they are there, they come in, they leave and that’s it. Their space is the same as ours. “I didn’t see them today,” said a representative of the Sabino MPP Housing and Communal Services.

Immediately after the conversation with journalists, representatives of MPP Housing and Public Utilities announced that they had started lunch, after which they hung a lock on the front door of the building and left, advising them to find the chief accountant of MPP Housing and Communal Services in the next administrative building in an hour or two (she too was having lunch), who they believed had more information about the unusual tenant.

After waiting for an hour and a half, reporters from the Tatar-inform news agency were still able to find Liliya Novikova at her workplace, who, having heard about the purpose of the journalists’ visit, hastened to immediately disown all possible questions. “VIM-Avia has nothing to do with us, they just rent this premises, that’s all. This is not ours. They pay the rent on time, and we rent out the premises to them,” emphasized the chief accountant of MPP Housing and Communal Services.

Nevertheless, the woman said that rent is paid once a quarter, the price is 15 thousand rubles. “They have already paid for the third quarter, in three days the fourth quarter will begin,” the accountant explained.

According to Novikova, payment for the rental of the premises is controlled by a local representative of the airline named Ruslan, with whom you can arrange a meeting by phone and ask all your questions. Having written Ruslan’s number on a piece of paper, Liliya Novikova politely said goodbye. Tatar-inform news agency correspondents called the specified number and arranged a meeting with Ruslan, who arrived at the scene just a couple of minutes after the call.

The guy arrived in his car and introduced himself as Ruslan Stepanov, a legal adviser at VIM-Avia in Bogatye Sabakh. According to Stepanov, he himself lives in Bogatye Sabakh, does not have any information about the financial condition of the airline and learns the latest news about his employer from the media. He also noted that he contacted the company’s Moscow office the day before, and no changes in its operating hours are planned yet.

“I work here, I live in Sabah, and they pay my salary. We are currently doing renovations in the (rented - approx. T-i) premises; when it is finished, I will work there. I just talked to them yesterday (with the Moscow representatives of VIM-Avia - T-y’s note) and they didn’t tell me anything new. What I know, you know too,” said Ruslan Stepanov.

The head of the press service of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan, Eduard Khairullin, told the Tatar-inform news agency that neither the Government of Tatarstan nor Tatneft have anything to do with the VIM-Avia airline and its obligations.

According to information available to the agency, the company Tatneft was engaged in supplying fuel to VIM-Avia, and Zenit Bank provided loans to it. Now, perhaps, the issue of restructuring debts to the bank will be considered.

Let us recall that the airline "VIM-Avia" was engaged in domestic and international passenger air transportation. According to information from the company’s official website, its fleet currently consists of 7 aircraft, including Boeing-777-300 and Airbus-330-200, although Maya Lomidze, executive director of the Association of Russian Tour Operators, noted that most of the aircraft are leased in case of bankruptcy The company's aircraft will probably be used to offset lease payments.

The founder of VIM-Avia, according to information from open sources, is Rashid Mursekaev. In May of this year, the air carrier announced a program of charter flights on the Kazan-China route, but problems with paying for fuel and periodic flight delays that VIM-Avia experienced since the beginning of 2017 did not allow this project to be fully implemented.

The Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia has completed the main investigative actions in a high-profile criminal case of fraud and abuse in what was once one of the largest airlines in the country "VIM-Avia", which is currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings. On Friday, GSU ​​investigators brought final charges against three persons involved in the investigation. Depending on the role of each of them, the former CEO of the company Alexander Kochnev, Vice President Alevtina Kalashnikov and accountant Ekaterina Panteleeva were accused of committing crimes under Part 2 of Art. 201, part 1 art. 176 and part 3 of Art. 193.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (abuse of authority resulting in grave consequences; illegal receipt of a loan and transfer of currency to non-residents of the Russian Federation using forged documents). Similar articles, but in absentia, the investigation incriminated the co-owner of the company Rashid Mursekaev, who left Russia even before the start of the proceedings.

Initially, the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee accused the defendants of particularly large-scale fraud committed by an organized criminal group (Part 4 of Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). According to investigators, knowing that the airline located in a difficult financial situation and unable to pay for fuel and airfield services, they continued to sell tickets for flights that ultimately did not fly. However, according to Alexander Kochnev’s lawyer Mikhail Voronin, investigators, having analyzed this episode, obviously came to the conclusion that the airline still tried to fully fulfill its obligations to customers. The former top managers of VIM-Avia did not admit their guilt.

“Alexander Kochnev conscientiously performed the duties of the airline’s general director, so all his actions complied with the law,” says lawyer Voronin. “Kochnev himself believes that if the company had been able to pay for fuel in September last year, its planes would still be flying.”

According to Voronin's lawyer, after the final accusation was presented, his client refused to testify, considering it necessary to first familiarize himself with its text in detail. “In addition, we need to study several more documents that are not in the case,” the defense lawyer explained to Kommersant. “We assured the investigation that we would give our answer to the charges in a week.”

After the fraud charges were dropped, the main issue in the case was the article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on abuse of power, which provides for up to ten years in prison. According to investigators, top managers of VIM-Avia allowed it, in particular, in relation to CJSC "Commercial agency of Domodedovo airport", which was not paid more than 500 million rubles for ground maintenance of aircraft, as well as the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “State ATM Corporation”. The latter was unable to receive more than 200 million rubles for air navigation support of flights of VIM-Avia airliners. It is worth noting that the guarantor for fuel loans in Domodedovo was Rashid Mursekaev. The claim against him personally for 300 million rubles was satisfied, but in fact there was nothing to recover.

The press service of Domodedovo Airport reported that according to the arbitration decision, the entire debt was collected from VIM-Avia, but then it was fully included in the register of claims of the airline’s creditors.

Lawyers for those involved in the investigation were unable to explain exactly which episodes the charges under Art. 176 and 193.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, explaining this by the fact that they did not familiarize themselves with the investigation documents in detail. According to a Kommersant source, the investigation believes that hundreds of millions of rubles were withdrawn from the airline under fictitious contracts. The banking episode is obviously connected with PJSC "Bank Zenit"(62.66% belongs to PJSC Tatneft), which provided VIM-Avia with a credit line of 3.6 billion rubles until December 31, 2020. The funds were allocated as collateral for expensive aircraft engines, auxiliary power units and securities of various companies. In 2017, VIM-Avia stopped servicing the loan without paying interest on it in the amount of 32 million rubles. In addition, in violation of the agreement with Zenit, the airline received another loan - from Absolut Bank for 581 million rubles. Absolut, by the way, is still trying to get its money back through arbitration.

In turn, Zenit assigned the right to claim the loan to LLC RNGO, which also went to court. During an inspection of the collateral, it turned out that six out of ten aircraft engines and one auxiliary unit (valued at almost 1 billion rubles) were missing, and the securities did not really correspond to the value at which they were taken as collateral. The arbitration court recovered 3 billion rubles from the suspicious borrower in favor of the RNGO, allowing the remaining engines to be put up for auction and the bills to be sold.

It is expected that in a couple of weeks the persons involved in the investigation can begin to familiarize themselves with its materials, after which the indictment will be sent for approval to the Prosecutor General's Office.

Replenishment of an airline's fleet is always a great event, AK has an increase in passengers, the airport is busier, passengers have more comfort, directions, flying on a new type of aircraft (although many of them probably don’t think about it), and photographers have a new object of hunt.
On February 17, another joyful event took place in the history of VIM-AVIA and Domodedovo Airport - a new type of aircraft Airbus A330-200 was handed over in a solemn ceremony.


The event turned out great in terms of brightness and emotions. Steadfastly enduring the Moscow cold weather, Vim-Avia flight attendants participated in a photo shoot with both the A330 model and the hero of the occasion.

The guys, judging by their smiles and emotions, did not notice the cold and happily helped us, responding to our “look there”, “look here”, “.. into the lens”

The event was attended by representatives of VIM-AVIA, Airbus, and Domodedovo Airport.
In the photo: Elena Fedorova, Director of Public Relations of VIM-AVIA, General Director of VIM-AVIA Alexander Yakovlevich Kochnev and Vadim Marusov, Regional Director for Business Development in Russia and the Republic of Belarus.
Alexander Yakovlevich said that already having Airbus aircraft in the fleet, in particular the A319, which have shown themselves to be excellent, VIM-AVIA is pleased to receive an addition to the A330, another milestone in cooperation with Airbus and a new stage in the development of AK. In 2017, VIM-AVIA will celebrate its 15th anniversary and plan to double its air fleet, this will happen mainly due to wide-body aircraft. Thanks to this, AK’s route network will also actively develop in the segment of long-haul routes.
And Vadim Marusov wholeheartedly welcomed the new A330 operator and expressed confidence that VIM-AVIA, as a successful and efficient A319 operator, will fully appreciate the benefits of unifying the Airbus aircraft families.

PIC appreciated the replenishment

Well done guys, thank you very much.

It’s a pleasure to fly with such flight attendants, if you fly with them, say hello from us)
Look with what warmth they look at their newcomer, soon they will have to accompany him in the sky.

This is how you sometimes have to do squats for a good shot - so spotting is also fitness))

Can't tear yourself away from the guys)

Although some switched to themselves)

Oh, and Seryoga is so carried away by the A330 that he doesn’t look back and is about to get pecked in the back of the head))

And here is our handsome man in full height, angle and girth.

Welcome on board

Tea, coffee, cutlets?)

And here is such a bright and positive safety card for the A330

And we didn’t lag behind the flight attendants on board)

A330-200 VIM-AVIA is presented in 252 seat configurations, of which: 24 for businessmen, 228 for economists.

Guess the riddle - what is the name of the flight attendant?
Hussars and hussars be silent!)

Plowshare)

well, you understand - no comments)

I had a strange association - a whale shark

Big plane

Engines and winglets, in my opinion, are one of the most fascinating elements in airplanes, and of course also the mechanization of the wing during takeoff and landing.