Page 126 - RusRPTFeb23

sanctions over Ukraine, has suffered a number of incidents in the first days of 2023. Experts and industry figures had voiced concerns about flight safety in 2022, a year that saw more than 130 incidents including 28 plane crashes. Major plane makers Boeing and Airbus halted deliveries of new foreign jets and spare parts, forcing Russian airlines to “cannibalise” grounded aircraft.
The Russian Ministry of Transportation maintained the 101mn airline passenger turnover guidance for 2023, which would mean 6.4% turnover’s increase from 95mn passengers carried in 2022, according to Kommersant. As followed by bne IntelliNews, Russian airlines carried a total of 95.1mn passengers in 2022, down by 16mn passengers or 14.3% year on year, and missing the 100mn post-invasion target set by President Vladimir Putin. The ministry also estimated that the Russian passenger aircraft fleet now contains 1,164 aircraft, enough to fully cover demand for domestic and international flights. The industry is expected to obtain a record-high RUB174bn ($2.5bn) in state subsidies in 2023. According to the sources of Kommersant, the funds could be used to continue buying out foreign jets from foreign lessors, and prolonging the domestic flight subsidy programme.
Russia's flagship carrier Aeroflot said on December 30 it had bought 10 Boeing 777-300ER long-haul planes it previously leased from an Irish company. The planes have been leased by Aeroflot since 2013 and 2014. The Irish company is believed to have done the deal to recoup something from its leasing deal after Russia reneged on the contracts. The Irish company is also believed to have sold the planes at a deep discount.
9.1.4 Construction & Real estate sector news
In 2022 the area of commissioned commercial real estate in Russia dropped 3-fold year on year to 0.3mn square metres, making the lowest indicator over 20-year observation history, RBC business portal reported citing the estimates of IBC Real Estate analysts.
As followed by bne IntelliNews, due to the fallout of Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, in 2022 commercial real estate and large shopping surfaces were hit by a decline in consumer demand and the pullout of Western retailers that both generated most of the consumer traffic and leasing deals.
According to the RBC report, in Moscow in 2022 11 shopping centres with a total area of 126,000 square metres were built, which is 2.8 times less than in 2021 and also the record-low. In other regions of the country, 12 shopping centres with a total area of 179,000 square metres were commissioned in 2022, which is three times lower than in 2021 (550,000 square metres).
126 RUSSIA Country Report February 2023 www.intellinews.com