The State Aviation Service of Ukraine imposed fines on the airline companies that service Russian President Vladimir Putin and Gazprom

Flights to Crimea will become expensive for Russian air carriers

Photo: Fotobank.ua

Russian airlines will pay for flying to Crimea. The State Aviation Service of Ukraine (SAS) has imposed fines on Russian air carriers that fly to Simferopol. As of July 29, the SAS fined 13 airlines a total amount of UAH 24.48 mn, the SAS told Capital.

The sanctions were applied to airlines in different market segments, both carrying passengers and cargo. The lion’s share of fines – UAH 14.6 mn – was charged on the leader of the Russian air market Aeroflot. Also, air companies servicing the president of Russia and Gazprom – the Special Air Squad Russia and Gazprom Avia – were charged with fines. Dobrolet, a subsidiary of Aeroflot, is not on the list, though the carrier was subjected to sanctions of the EU on July 30. The message of the SAS said that as of July 29 it has no information that these fines were paid.

A high ranking source in the Cabinet told Capital that these fines are charged for the violation of Ukrainian air space in March and the beginning of April. “Based on this fact, most likely the size of the fines will be increased, as most flights are performed in summer during the high season for vacationing,” says the interlocutor.

As a reminder, the SAS and state company UkrAeroRukh limited the air space of Crimea due to the occupation of the peninsula by Russia and its annexation, which was not recognized by Ukraine. Similar prohibitions were introduced by the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Prohibitions of flights apply not only to Ukrainian airlines, but also Russian airlines, reads the message of the agency.

Taking the path of diplomacy

The majority of Russian airlines that have been fined refused to provide commentary for Capital. Deputy General Director of the Russian 224 Air Squad state-run company Dmitriy Novitskiy assured the publication that the company did not receive any notifications about the fines. “We did not receive a bill and when we do we will contest it. We definitely did not fly to Crimea,” he said. Russian airlines will ignore the fines of the SAS, believes Windrose General Director Volodymyr Kamenchuk.

Ukraine’s Embassy in Russia already received a corresponding letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia in July. “It was proposed to suspend the validity of the resolutions of the State Aviation Service of Ukraine on imposing fines on Russian airlines. Otherwise, the Russian side claimed it retains the right to charge similar amounts on Ukrainian air carriers to compensate damages,” First Secretary for Economic Issues of Ukraine’s Embassy in Russia Oleksandr Shulha told Capital.

Ukrainian air carriers were indignant about the warning of the Russians. “We do not violate international law in any part of the world. For this reason, there are no grounds to apply similar sanctions to Ukraine,” says General Director of Atlasjet Ukraine Serhiy Podhorodetskiy. If Russia imposes fines on Ukrainian airlines, the carriers will appeal to international judicial bodies, he says.

Hard to force

Russian airlines can contest the sanctions in Ukrainian courts, says Senior Attorney at the Marchenko Danevych law firm Andriy Huk. If the players don’t pay the fines, the SAS will have to appeal to Russian courts, though it will be very difficult for it to win trials for political reasons, he believes. SAS can also file a lawsuit against a Russian airline with a Ukrainian court, but the ruling will have to be recognized and enforced in Russia. Meanwhile, Russian courts will not recognize a ruling of the Ukrainian court,” says Huk.

He also says that a lawsuit can be filed with a Ukrainian court against airlines that have official representative offices in Ukraine, though they are limited to Aeroflot and S7. If SAS files a lawsuit with a Russian court and loses it, the service will have to appeal to international organizations, i.e. the European Court of Human Rights, the UN International Court of Justice, etc. with a demand that the fines be paid.

There is another option: in order to force the airlines to pay the fines, Ukraine could, for instance, prohibit Russian airlines from flying to Ukraine. But then the Ukrainian companies should be prepared for similar limitations by Russia, Huk summed up.