'Koltsovo airport of Yekaterinburg is going to get the regional authorities’ support regardless of their ownership status, as we are talking about one of the region’s key transportation facilities here, and the airport’s development is a crucial factor of the regional economy’s growth,’ Viktor Vasiliev of Finam Management said to UrBC.

In the meantime, Sverdlovsk Region Government is about to sell a shareholding (of Koltsovo Invest by auction. The opening bid for the holding (25% and one share) has been determined at 249 million RUR. Bids will be accepted up to December 20, 2007, the auction itself will take place on December 24, 2007.

The decision to sell the business was taken by the region’s Legislative Assembly as part of the new legislation on the management of state-run property in 2007.

'It’s not quite clear just how the region could benefit from controlling the airport. Experience has shown that such businesses are normally run much more efficiently by private proprietors, so retaining control over the airport purely for the sake of controlling does not sound like a good idea,’ Mr. Vasiliev added.

'RENOVA is the likeliest auction winner, as this business is both the shareholder and the project’s major investor. They are naturally interested in raising the amount of shares they have to get more return on their investments in the future,’ he noted.