Belarus delivers ultimatum to Russia

New problems in flight connection between Moscow and Minsk can arise next week.

The Belarusian authorities have informed the Russian Ministry of Transportation and the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) that since April 13 Russian air companies would be able to make only four flights a day instead of five. Aeroflot will be deprived one of the flights, while it sells tickets to the disputed flight actively, a Russian newspaper Kommersant writes.

As sources familiar with the progress of the intergovernmental talks between Moscow and Minsk write, on April 3 the department on aviation of the Transportation and Communications Ministry of Belarus sent an ultimatum-like letter to the Russian Ministry of Transportation and the Federal Air Transport Agency. It is stated in the letter that since April 13 only four flights a day from each side could be performed between Moscow and Minsk. Now Russian air companies carry out five flights a day. The interlocutor of Kommersant claims that Moscow should decide for itself from which company one frequency should be taken away. All air carriers working at this line – Aeroflot (three flights a day), Sibir and UTair (one flight each) have already received warning telegrams with the same contents.

Executives deny official comments. The Ministry of Transportation assures that “they have not received any letters according to the established procedure.” However, Aeroflot confirmed receiving a telegram from the Belarusian aviation authorities. A source of Kommersant in the company specified that only two flights have been agreed upon. Yesterday Aeroflot addressed the head of Rosaviatsiya Alexander Neradko with a request to help to deal with the situation.

The conflict around air flights between Moscow and Minsk started on March 26: the sides could not agree upon summer timetable. In winter only Aeroflot (three times a day) and UTair (one flight) carried out flights to Minsk from Moscow. An application for being included into summer timetable was filed by Sibir. Minsk approved the new carrier, however did not increase the total number of flights. Belarus stated that the parity of flights frequency is stipulated by the agreement, which according to Minsk should be equal to four flights a day. Rosaviatsiya refutes that and insists that additional fifth flight should be provided to Aeroflot.

Last Thursday talks were held in Moscow to resolve the conflict. According to the official report of the Ministry of Transportation, the sides agreed to elaborate the existing agreement before May 10, and until then Russian companies would be able to carry out five flights a day to Minsk. However, as it turned out, the term of the provisional regime of flights is much shorter. A source in the air market of Belarus explained that during the talks the sides agreed upon parity in the framework of the provisional regime, but the protocol was to be prepared on the next day only. “As a result it turned out that the protocol was different,” the interlocutor of Kommersant informed. “The formulation changed. The Russian authorities refused to confirm their obligations to admit the parity of frequency. Instead of this paragraph it was recorded in the new protocol that the parity of frequencies is “a desire of the Belarusian side.” After that Minsk delegates refused to sign the protocol and informed Moscow that four frequencies are introduced for Moscow since April 13.

Experts’ evaluation of the situation is ambivalent. The head of the analytical service Aviaport Oleg Panteleev believes that Minsk acts “inappropriately”, depriving Aeroflot of one frequency in a unilateral procedure. The expert explains that Sibir, which emerged in the route Minsk-Moscow has brought additional bonuses to Belavia. As a marketing partner of Sibir in a code-sharing agreement, Belavia earns income from tickets sold for Sibir flights. “It means that Belavia has received apparent advantages for itself in summer timetable, and Aeroflot – obvious disadvantages,” Oleg Panteleev said.

He sees two ways out of the situation: to bring up this issue at a higher diplomatic level, the level of the Customs Union, and there to spell out a document in a more liberal format. Or to pass to parity of frequencies, as Minsk insists, but “on the ground of justice”, depriving Belavia flights to Russian regions (the companies have agreed upon five cities in Russia). The head of a consulting company Infomost Boris Rybak sees only one way out – to open the sky between the countries completely. But Russia does not have a moral right to demand that from Belarus, the expert specifies, as “it is noted for the lack of consistency in its transport policy itself.”