Russia’s bombers at the airport?
Bad light falls on Fraport participation
7/19/2023 9:43 p.m
Fraport has held a significant stake in St. Petersburg’s Pulkovo Airport for years and does not want to part with it even after the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine – unless the airport is directly involved in the war. Research now suggests this.
According to research by “Süddeutsche Zeitung”, WDR and NDR, Russia also uses Pulkovo Airport in Saint Petersburg for military purposes. The media refer to evaluations of satellite images that are available to them. This means that Frankfurt’s partially state-owned airport operator Fraport and the Hessian state government are likely to come under further pressure. Fraport has been under criticism for a long time because the company is still holding its stake in Pulkovo Airport despite the sanctions following the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine.
According to SZ, Fraport has held a 25 percent stake in Saint Petersburg Airport for years. The Frankfurt company, in turn, is 30 percent owned by the state of Hesse. Hesse’s Finance Minister Michael Boddenberg from the CDU, who is also the chairman of the Fraport supervisory board, had so far refused to withdraw from the company in St. Petersburg. On May 4, 2022, he said withdrawing stake in the Russian airport would only be possible if the “airport were directly involved in warlike events.” Then “force majeure” would be in play – Fraport would no longer have to fulfill its contractual obligations in Pulkowo.
Was Pulkovo a logistical support for Wagner in the Ukraine?
The Research by SZ, WDR and NDR According to reports, military aircraft have taken off and landed in Pulkovo several times since then, including at least one Tu-22M3 bomber, US-sanctioned transport aircraft from the Wagner mercenary force and a long-range bomber. Whether the planes were used for the war against Ukraine or for other operations cannot be proven without a doubt based on the satellite images.
For the opposition, the government and the company are now in need of explanations. “Minister Boddenberg has to ask himself how much evidence the black-green state government still needs to put an end to the participation in Pulkowo Airport,” says the Hessian FDP politician Marion Schardt-Sauer. And asks why the state government did not request satellite images itself in spring 2022 to “find out about the actual use of the airport”.
When asked, Fraport replied that the group was not aware that the airport operating company was handling military flights in connection with the ongoing war operations. It is not possible to exit the project immediately. Pulkovo is a civil aviation airport. In principle, however, every civil airport worldwide could also be used for military purposes in special cases, according to the group.