“This issue is on our agenda at the moment. There is an understanding that we need a final decision by the end of the year, at least a concept of Moscow Airport Hub development”, he said.

According to him, the Government will shortly approve the technical specifications to be forwarded to “professional consultants with global airport hub experience”.

Shuvalov said that the point is not only in merging or dividing property, “privatizing or long-term rent or concession”. He sees another important aspect in studying Presidential Aide Igor Levitin’s proposal “to conglomerate the infrastructure assets". “Experts say we shouldn’t designate one of the airports as a hub, let all airports develop equally”, said Shuvalov.

He says there are two battling tendencies in the world today, merging assets or retaining competition between airports.

“Our situation is unique – all three airports are competitors in all market segments, which harms air traffic quality, according to experts”, said the Vice Premier. Therefore, he thinks that by end-2012 “all of these questions have to be answered, whether we should merge the airports or grant private investors access to the new infrastructure, and how business functions should be divided if airports are to remain independent, not to become one company”.

Project Group №5