January 27, 2015. The controlling shareholding in Koltsovo Airport was sold to Regional Airports Management Company (a member enterprise of Renova Corporation) in the course of an auction, Sverdlovsk Region Ministry for Public Property Management reports.

The 17.5% shareholding was sold for the opening bid amount (1.259bn RUR). Regional Airports Management Company was the only bidder.

‘Viktor Vekselberg’s company has the buy-out priority, so there were no other bidders for the shares,’ the ministry says.

Sverdlovsk Region Government still owns a little over 17% of the airport’s shares.

Now the 34.56% stake in Koltsovo Airport that used to belong to Sverdlovsk Region Government turned out to be key to the scandal involving the Mid-Urals Development Corporation.

In March 2014, the corporation signed an agreement to sell the shareholding to Moscow-based Greenline and Rusregionbusiness Investment Company. The shares were kept in the corporation’s accounts until April 22 and then disappeared somewhere. On July 15, 2014, Sverdlovsk Region Ministry for Public Property Management announced the shares were found in its accounts. The corporation later placed a claim with the court, asking to declare the transaction void.

Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration Court dismissed Greenline and Rusregionbusiness’s claims in November 2014, so the shares were not handed over to the plaintiffs and remained Sverdlovsk Region Government’s property.