Russian authorities have intensified their campaign of nationalizing private assets, with prosecutors recently targeting Moscow’s second-largest airport in what analysts describe as an acceleration of state takeovers since the Ukraine war began.
In January, the Russian prosecutor-general asked a Moscow court to order the nationalization of Domodedovo airport, claiming that billionaire owner Dmitry Kamenshchik and business associate Vadim Kogan were part of western efforts to undermine the Russian economy because they held foreign passports.
Kamenshchik, who privatized Domodedovo in the early 1990s and transformed it from a dilapidated Soviet airfield into a major transportation hub, holds additional citizenship in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, while Kogan has an Israeli passport, according to prosecutors’ allegations.
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The case is part of a broader campaign that has seen Russia’s prosecutor-general open cases against more than 85 Russian businesses since the beginning of the Ukraine war, with authorities claiming to have returned 2.4 trillion rubles ($27.9 billion) to state ownership.
After being approached by authorities in 2024, Kamenshchik reportedly changed Domodedovo’s ownership structure and moved the holding company to Russia in an attempt to comply with current legislation, according to a person familiar with the matter.
A friend of Kamenshchik later requested an audience with President Vladimir Putin to argue that prosecutors had built their case on false information, explaining that Domodedovo’s corporate structure had no access to runway renovation funds, which were solely controlled by Russia’s aviation authority.
Legal experts say the cases signal rapidly changing rules for businesses with foreign connections. “This is a signal to owners with dual citizenship, especially from unfriendly countries,” Artem Zhavoronkov, a partner at Russian law firm Nordic Star, told Reuters in February.
The wave of nationalizations occurs despite Putin’s recent overtures to Western companies amid speculation about improved relations with the United States. Last month, the Russian president signed an order to return the Russia-based unit of Ariston, an Italian appliance maker, which had been placed under temporary administration.
“Putin is totally uninterested in the economy and these guys fighting each other,” a sanctioned Russian oligarch told the Financial Times. “He only cares about the war and geopolitics.”
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