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Russia got no notice from Tajikistan about suspending Ural Airlines flights

MOSCOW, December 23. /TASS/. The Russian Transport Ministry has not received an official telegram from the Tajik aviation authorities regarding suspension of Ural Airlines flights to the country, official representative of the Ministry told TASS.

"The Russian Ministry of Transport has not received an official telegram about suspending Ural Airlines," the representative said.

Starting from midnight December 23 Russian suspended flights of Tajik airline Somon Air to the Russian regions. According to the Ministry, it includes flights of the airline to all Russian cities, except Moscow and St. Petersburg.

The Ministry representative noted that negotiations of air agencies of Russia and Tajikistan ended earlier. "Tajikistan, in violation of the agreement on air communication between the countries, as well as the protocol from November 7, 2016, has not given permission to Russia’s Yamal airline for flights on from Zhukovsky airport," the representative said, noting that ban on Somon Air flights to Russian regions is a retaliatory measure.

The warning of halting flight connection was made amid another round of dispute between Russia and Tajikistan regarding the number of air carriers. The Tajik aviation authorities refused to grant a permit to the Yamal company to conduct flights from the Zhukovsky airport in the Moscow region to Khudzhand in the north of Tajikistan. According to them Yamal flights would break the parity of Russia and Tajikistan in number of airlines selected for serving flights between the two states.