RBC: Russia’s largest cargo air group almost stopped flying due to sanctions

Five airlines of the largest Russian cargo air group “Volga-Dnepr” Alexey Isaikin, specializing in transportation around the world, have practically stopped flights, RBC reports.

So, in the week that started on March 14, the group (the eponymous charter carrier Volga-Dnepr) carried out only two flights: on March 15 – from Beijing to Vladivostok, on March 16 – from Moscow to Bratislava.

Other carriers of the group have not been flying for several days. Two Russian subsidiaries of the group – AirBridgeCargo and Atran – made their last flights on March 13, British CargoLogic Air and German CargoLogic Germany – on March 11.

The number of flights of the air group has fallen sharply against the backdrop of Western sanctions imposed against Russia because of its military operation in Ukraine. Before the restrictions, Volga-Dnepr operated several dozen flights a day.

Recall that on February 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees recognizing the independence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), and on February 24 he made an emergency appeal to the Russians and announced a special military operation in Donbass. In his speech, he stated that “circumstances require decisive action from Russia” and stressed that “Russia will not allow Ukraine to have nuclear weapons.”

In response to Russia’s actions, Western countries (USA, Canada, European Union, Great Britain, Japan) announced new, tougher sanctions against the Russian Federation, including financial and economic ones.

Thus, in particular, Russian banks fell under the sanctions, including Sberbank, VTB, Novikombank, FC Otkritie and Sovcombank, and for a number of state-owned companies it was difficult to attract foreign capital.

Later, the EU countries and the United States agreed to disconnect Russian banks that fell under sanctions from the international system of interbank transactions and information exchange SWIFT. In addition, it was decided to freeze the assets of the Bank of Russia, which will create difficulties for its use of international reserves. EU countries also pledged to take steps to limit the sale of citizenship — the so-called “golden passports” that allow wealthy Russians connected to the Russian government to become citizens of EU states and gain access to their financial systems. In addition, the European Union, the United States, Canada and a number of other countries have closed the sky for Russian aircraft.

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