‘If the state, represented by Rosimuschestvo, decides to cancel its renting agreement with Koltsovo airport, it absolutely does not have to sign a new agreement with the airport rather than anyone else,’ Intellect-C’s Legal Safety Director Roman Rechkin said to UrBC.

In the meantime, Rosimuschestvo filed a complaint with Sverdlovsk Region Court of Arbitration regarding the need to cancel its renting agreement with Koltsovo airport. The premises in question include the state-owned runways and other objects.

Mr. Rechkin believes the airport has no priority rights whatsoever, as these rights are only given to a leaseholder who has never violated any of its contractual obligations.

‘In theory, Rosimuschestvo is allowed to rent the disputed property to someone else, so the involvement of the third party cannot be counted out completely. However, it will be the state, that is, the proprietor, that will decide on what this third party might be,’ he observed.