Aeroflot commented to Izvestia on the issue of the possible sale of its subsidiary, the low-cost airline Pobeda. The company said the sale was not being discussed.
“The sale of Pobeda is not being considered, since the low-cost airline is a strategic asset of the group and a key element of the long-term development strategy,” the press service of Aeroflot noted.
A representative of Pobeda also told Izvestia that the sale of the low-cost airline was not being discussed.
According to Izvestia’s interlocutors at Aeroflot and the government, the sale of 25-75% of the Pobeda low-cost airline through an initial public offering (IPO) was being worked out.
In March, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Moiseev said that an economic group consisting of representatives of Aeroflot, the Ministry of Transport, the Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance is working to stabilize the airline’s financial position. In particular, the issue of raising funds in the foreign market is being considered, he specified. And the Minister of Transport Vitaly Savelyev on March 23 at a meeting of the State Duma Committee on Transport and Construction called the IPO of Pobeda one of the ways to strengthen the company’s financial position.
In the new strategy of Aeroflot, adopted last summer, the main focus is on the development of Pobeda, which by 2028 should increase the number of passengers carried to 55-65 million people and become the country’s largest airline. The parent company, as part of the strategy in 2021-2023, will transfer all its Boeing 738 aircraft (50 aircraft) to the low-cost airline’s fleet.
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