Russia"s plans to integrate six smaller...

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin agreed on Tuesday with proposals to merge the airlines, currently under the control of state-owned hi-tech corporation Russian Technologies, into Aeroflot. Before the merger, the Rossiya air company, the largest of the six, will have to be privatized.

Boris Shmelyov, head of the Center for Political Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences" Economy Institute, welcomed the government"s decision, saying the move would help Russia solve a large number of problems on the domestic air carrier market.

"After the breakup of the Soviet Union, a host of small airlines emerged," he said. "But life has shown that these companies are weak, noncompetitive and unable to ensure a high level of operations."

Shmelyov said the biggest problem of the small carriers, known in 1990s as "babyflots" was to provide for the repair and maintenance of aircraft.

The decline of air safety in the post-Soviet years has led to dozens of major air

Pages: [1] 2 3