Russian agencies clash over airport owner's case

[rooster59]

Russian agencies clash over airport owner's case

VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press


MOSCOW (AP) — Russian law enforcement agencies clashed in court Friday in a case blaming the billionaire owner of the nation's biggest airport for alleged safety violations that officials say led to the deaths of 37 people in a suicide bombing five years ago.

The case involving Moscow's Domomedovo airport owner Dmitry Kamenshchik has been seen by many in Russia as an attempt by politically-connected business circles to seize a prized asset. It also marked a rare case in which Russian prosecutors actually defended a suspect.

Kamenshchik, 47, whose fortune was estimated by Forbes magazine at $2.9 billion, had turned a rundown, decrepit airport into a modern, highly successful venture.

But he was accused by Russia's Investigative Committee of failing to meet safety requirements, which it said led to the bombing deaths on Jan. 24, 2011. The attack in the airport's international arrivals area also wounded 180 others and was claimed by Chechen rebels.

The Investigative Committee, the nation's top investigative agency, claimed that by waiving blanket checks of passengers at the airport's entrance, Kamenshchik made it vulnerable. Kamenshchik denied the accusations, saying that blanket inspections weren't required by law at the time.

Three senior managers of Domodedovo earlier had been placed in custody in the same case.

The Investigative Committee placed Kamenshchik under arrest Thursday, but backed off a bit Friday, asking a Moscow court to put him under house arrest. But in a twist, government prosecutors disputed the Investigative Committee's case, calling the accusations unfounded.

The judge, however, sided with the Investigative Committee, placing Kamenshchik under house arrest for two months. Prosecutors said they would appeal.

Kamenshchik's arrest has sent shock waves across Russia's business community, with many seeing it as yet another case of government-connected businessmen relying on law enforcement agencies to try to snap up Russia's most attractive economic assets.

Experts said the charges against Kamenshchik would further erode investors' confidence in Russia and contribute to continuing capital flight.

"We shouldn't be surprised when we hear that investments in Russia are continuing to fall and the economy is going down," wrote Sergey Aleksashenko, Russia's former deputy finance minister who is now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute.

Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Vladimir Putin was informed about the case. Peskov refrained from commenting on the case, saying it's up to court to determine if Kamenshchik is guilty.

-- (c) Associated Press 2016-01-20

[craigt3365]

Tough times for those not in Putin's inner circle.

[smew]

Yes, Putin boys want it all for themselves and more legit business men will loose out

[SOTIRIOS]

...first the petroleum mogul.....

...is this another pretext to grab someone else's success and fortune.....???

[bark]

No country can stop these Terrorists attacks. Sorry.

[AlexStepashkin]

I agree that strategy "something bad happened -> fire or jail the responsible" is not very efficient in problem solving and kinda demotivating, but what's the problem with prosecuting CEO for not preparing security measures good enough which leads to many people getting killed? I mean, what's that "putin friends" babble is all about in this context?

Kamenshchik (CEO) is only home arrested, and only for short term, while Domodedovo recently was sold (by Kamenshchik approval as i know) to another commercial non-government company (two, actually). Not much has changed

Edited February 20, 2016 by AlexStepashkin

[RuamRudy]

I agree that strategy "something bad happened -> fire or jail the responsible" is not very efficient in problem solving and kinda demotivating, but what's the problem with prosecuting CEO for not preparing security measures good enough which leads to many people getting killed? I mean, what's that "putin friends" babble is all about in this context?

Kamenshchik (CEO) is only home arrested, and only for short term, while Domodedovo recently was sold (by Kamenshchik approval as i know) to another commercial non-government company (two, actually). Not much has changed

What has changed in the last 5 years that has led to his being arreseted? I doubt new evidence relating to the allegations came to light - so there must be another reason for this action.

[AlexStepashkin]

I agree that strategy "something bad happened -> fire or jail the responsible" is not very efficient in problem solving and kinda demotivating, but what's the problem with prosecuting CEO for not preparing security measures good enough which leads to many people getting killed? I mean, what's that "putin friends" babble is all about in this context?

Kamenshchik (CEO) is only home arrested, and only for short term, while Domodedovo recently was sold (by Kamenshchik approval as i know) to another commercial non-government company (two, actually). Not much has changed

What has changed in the last 5 years that has led to his being arreseted? I doubt new evidence relating to the allegations came to light - so there must be another reason for this action.

For a long time, main shareholders/owners of Domodedovo airport were hidden in docs, and their coming out happened just recently. Previously, as Kamenshchik explained himself, they hide those info to prevent illegal raider attacks back then (~130 suggested attemps registered in court).

Maybe someone detected appearing of that info and tried to heroically continue this case to gain personal career boost

But you're right, it would be great to see more background behind the story.

Edited February 20, 2016 by AlexStepashkin

[PattayaAl]

Yes, Putin boys want it all for themselves and more legit business men will loose out

If you think he made $2.9 BILLION legitimately, you would need a reality check

[Gene1960]

My friends and associates in China worked with Dimitry Kamenshchik in the beginning of 1990s. He was powerful and very well connected to the ex-KGB people and had a fleet of cargo planes they used between China and Russia. They had access to the Russian Air Force airfields and I doubt that any outsider could land a cargo craft on a Russian airfield loaded with Chinese goods.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Naam]

...first the petroleum mogul.....

...is this another pretext to grab someone else's success and fortune.....???

Putin should have grabbed all the illgotten fortunes of the so-called oligarchs. then those (with an agenda) who accuse him having amassed a fortune of $30 billion could claim it's $100 billion