Russia's Nafta Moskva buys chunk of military airfield - paper
11:48 22/07/2010
MOSCOW, July 22 (RIA Novosti) - Nafta Moskva, the investment vehicle of Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov, won a Defense Ministry auction to acquire 46 hectares of the Kubinka military airfield in the Moscow region for more than $7 million, Kommersant business daily said on Thursday.
Kommersant wrote that Nafta Moskva had been searching for an opportunity to build a business terminal for its own needs for a long time as takeoff lines at Vnukovo-3 airport were long and the airport was located inconveniently.
The paper quoted a Defense Ministry official as saying that the ministry had received only two bids, one from Kubinka Airport, which belongs to Nafta Moskva, and the other from Balt Invest. The contract will be signed within the next 20 days.
Analysts estimate the airfield's market price at $2,000-2,500 per hundred square meters, while Nafta Moskva will pay $1,500.
"This is an adequate price because there are several restrictions for using the land at the airfield," Kommersant quoted Geo Development Chief Executive Officer Maxim Leshchyov as saying.
Nafta Moskva has acquired only 10% of the airfield's overall territory. The flight strip still belongs to the ministry but will be used by both the government and the new investor.
A Nafta-Moskva official told Kommersant it had not worked out a land use plan yet, but the Aeroproject aviation institute had already started redesign works.
"We'll channel large amounts of money into the airfield and flight strip upgrade," the paper quoted a Nafta-Moskva spokesman as saying.
A Kommersant source familiar with the situation in Kubinka said the investment in the upgrade of the flight strip would amount to several dozen million dollars. The construction of a new passenger terminal, aircraft parking lots and service and maintenance infrastructure would cost about $25-27 million.
A source familiar with the project's details said the company would have to spend more than 130 million rubles (almost $4.5 million) to demolish the existing objects and buildings. He added the new investor would also have to construct a new two-kilometer road to the airfield. The source estimated the possible necessary investment at $60-100 million, while Nafta Moskva never unveiled the amount, but said it would be lower than that estimate.
A source close to Nafta Moskva said the company had no plans of inviting partners into the project.
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