Vnesheconombank has completed a deal to assign to Sberbank USD537m worth of the rights of claim relating to the loans owed by Sheremetyevo International Airport (SIA). The loans were extended by Vnesheconombank to finance the construction of SIA Terminal D.

«Having ensured delivery of a major infrastructure project in a strategic industry on the recoverability and breakeven principles, VEB has accomplished its mission of a development institution. One of Aeroflot’s key partners, VEB from the very beginning supported the air carrier in building the base terminal later integrated into the general infrastructure, and provided loan facilities on the project finance principles. Therefore, the Bank for Development assumed the major project construction and start-up risks. The project has consequently become a milestone in development of SIA and Aeroflot. It has helped the companies to improve passenger experience and deliver stronger financial performance," said Nikolay Tsekhomsky, First Deputy Chairman of Vnesheconombank.

By completing the deal, Sberbank has become SIA’s majority lender.

«We are very glad to have successfully closed this deal, which is important for all its participants," emphasized Alexander Vedyakhin, First Deputy Chairman of Sberbank. «It is a unique infrastructure facility, which under current effective management is bound to retain its leading position at the Moscow air hub. We are confident about SIA’s business development and our future cooperation with the company.»

Alexander Oleynik, Deputy Director General for Economy and Finance at SIA, said: «We appreciate our longstanding cooperation with VEB and Sberbank, as well as their credit support, which to a large extent enables SIA’s development. This deal has allowed SIA to considerably cut the effective interest rate and extend duration of the loan portfolio. The released cash will be channelled to the SIA investment programme.

In 2006 and 2008, as part of the Sheremetyevo D Terminal construction project, VEB and a special-purpose vehicle, Terminal, (in which Aeroflot was a principal shareholder) entered into the loan agreements totalling around USD659m. Terminal D was commissioned in November 2009. In 2012, Terminal SPV was reorganised through a merger with Sheremetyevo International Airport.

Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank is one of the leading global financial institutions. Sberbank accounts for almost one third of the assets held by the Russian banking sector. It is also the major creditor for the national economy and ranks first in terms of deposits. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation holding 50% plus one voting share in Sberbank is its founder and principal shareholder. Another 50% of Sberbank’s shares are owned by international investors. Sberbank provides its services to 145m customers in 22 countries across the world. With its 15,000 points of service, Sberbank boasts the largest branch network in Russia. Its international network comprises subsidiary and affiliate banks and representative offices in Great Britain, USA, CIS, Central and Eastern Europe, India, China, Turkey, and other countries. It holds General Banking Licence No.1481 issued by the Bank of Russia. Sberbank’s official websites: www.sberbank.com (Sberbank Group), www.sberbank.ru.

Sheremetyevo International Airport is Russia’s largest airport in terms of passenger and cargo traffic, take-off and landing operations, airport size, and cargo complex capacity. Accounting for 47% of the total passenger traffic and 46% of take-off and landing operations, SIA plays the leading role at the Moscow air hub. SIA’s destination network consists of over 200 routes. In 2017, SIA provided services to 40,093,000 customers, which is 17.8% more than in 2016. According to a British research company, OAG, SIA ranked in 2017 among the three global leaders in terms of punctuality. It was also declared the most punctual airport among European airports with 20m to 30m departing passengers a year.

Press Office
E-mail: press@veb.ru