The chairman of the State Aviation Service, Denys Antoniuk, has signed the decisions on allocation of air routes to airlines that the commission on allocation of air routes adopted at a meeting on 26 June. This was announced by Minister of Infrastructure Andrii Pyvovarskyi, the LigaBusinessInform publication reports.
"According to my information, all the allocations made by the commission have been signed. In addition, letters regarding ‘Open Skies’ in Odessa have been sent," Pyvovarskyi said.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Infrastructure, Antoniuk signed the allocations on 1 July. The Cabinet of Ministers suspended Antoniuk from the post of chairman of the State Aviation Service on the same day. The relevant decision was approved by the directive No. 658 of 1 July.
As reported, a conflict arose between Antoniuk and the Odessa region’s Governor Mikheil Saakashvili during distribution of air routes to airlines at the State Aviation Service on 26 June.
Antoniuk wrote a letter to Ukraine’s General Prosecutor Viktor Shokin to complain that his suspension from his post was illegal "because of the unlawful actions of a public servant." According to him, Saakashvili's actions "bear the signs of a criminal offense." Antoniuk said he was suspended not in accordance with the procedure established by law and that Saakashvili had no right to attend the meeting of the commission. Antoniuk also accused the governor of the Odessa region of acting in the interests of the AtlasJet Ukraine airline and said that he suffered "moral damages" estimated at UAH 1 million.
