Russia investigating bribery of Federal Air Transport Agency employees by Azur Air management

The Investigative Committee of Russia has opened a criminal case against the management of the charter airline Azur Air on the fact of giving a bribe to employees of the Federal Air Transport Agency, Report informs referring to TASS.

The case was initiated under Article 291 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (Giving a bribe) against the leaders of Azur Air and is being investigated by the Western Interregional Investigation Department for Transport of the Russian Investigative Committee.

Earlier, RBC reported that the top management of Azur Air and other unidentified persons, according to investigators, issued in July 2021 to the head of the flight operation department of the Federal Air Transport Agency Maxim Kostylev (he quit in the spring of 2022) a ticket through the tour operator Anex Tour, underestimating its cost by 4.7 million rubles ($69,408). The voucher included a business class flight, accommodation in the Turkish premium hotel Lujo Hotel Bodrum, which belongs to Serhat Kockar, chairman of the Supervisory Board of Azur Air. The investigation believes that this could have affected the results of the audit of the airline’s flight operations, during which violations were identified.