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Criminal case opened against deputy head of Aeroflot Airlines

Head of Russian air carrier Andrei Kalmykov suspected of abuse of authority
Photo ITAR-TASS
Photo ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, June 18 (Itar-Tass) - The Investigative Committee /SK/ opened a criminal case against Deputy Director General of Aeroflot Russian Airlines Andrei Kalmykov, suspected of abuse of authority, SK spokesman Vladimir Markin told Itar-Tass on Tuesday.

The investigators said "Kalmykov, as deputy director general for commerce of Aeroflot-Russian Airlines, secured advantages for the companies Sunrise Tour Grupp and Sunrise Tour, affiliated to his close relatives, which caused considerable harm to the rights and legitimate interests of the airline and the state, as its main shareholder."

On March 15, 2011, Kalmykov brokered a contract of flights with Sunrise Tour Grupp for 85,866 seats en route Moscow-Antalia-Moscow for the summer of 2011.

Under the contract, the price of economy-class seat was 221 dollars. Meanwhile, on March 10, 2011, Company Tez Tour offered to purchase 46,000 economy class seats at 320 dollars apiece, Markin said.

A check run by the Audit Chamber found that Sunrise Tour Grupp, when the contracts were signed in the period from 2010 through 2011, belonged to Sunrise Asset Management, co-founded by Andrei Kalmykov's wife and his mother.

Aeroflot's turning down the offer to sell seats on its flights at 320 dollars lost it 4,583,700 U.S. dollars, or 131.1 million roubles at an exchange rate of 28.6 roubles per one U.S. dollar.

The aggregate damage to the state as Aeroflot's main shareholder under the above transaction made up 78,236 million roubles.

Investigators of the Moscow regional investigation department on the transport are continuing the probe to ascertain all the circumstances of the crime.