The European Union has unveiled a list of people and entities affected by its sanctions. The restrictive measures came into effect on Wednesday. This time, the list includes the Dobrolyot airline, the Almaz-Antey concern, and the Russian National Commercial Bank (RNCB). The financial assets of these organizations have been frozen in the European Union, the Interfax news agency reports.
The EU believes that these entities support or benefit from the Russian decision-makers responsible for “destabilizing the situation in the East of Ukraine and for the illegal annexation of the Crimea."
Aeroflot established Dobrolyot Airlines to perform low-cost transport operations. Serious plans were made for Dobrolyot: it is expected to have a fleet of 40 Boeing 737-800 aircraft by 2018. Currently, Dobrolyot performs domestic flights in Russia as well as flights to the annexed Crimea. It performed its first flight on the Moscow-Simferopol route on June 10.
The presentation of Dobrolyot states that it is being developed based on the classic low-cost model and that it will match the world’s most successful low-cost airlines, Ryanair. According to Aeroflot’s plan, Dobrolyot will be transporting 10 million passengers per year (the entire Aeroflot group carried 31.4 million passengers in 2013) and operate flights to 45 destinations in Russia and around world within five years of operation.
As reported, the European Union approved the sectoral sanctions imposed on the military, financial, and energy sectors of the Russian economy on July 29. Currently, 95 people and 23 entities are affected by the European Union’s restrictive measures.
