Pegas Touristik receives export restrictions relief from US authorities
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Pegas Touristik, one of the ten largest Russian tour operators, which, due to its affiliation with the air carrier Nordwind Airlines, was on the list of companies for which the US authorities imposed export restrictions as part of sanctions against the Russian Federation, was unexpectedly excluded from there. US officials say they are allowing the operator to carry out “additional administrative procedures.” At the same time, Turkish businessman Ramazan Akpınar, the founder of Pegas Touristik and Nordwind Airlines, has already transferred the business to his wife. The situation with the company getting on the list would not have much effect on working with Russian tourists, experts say, but this seriously limits it in making many transactions.
The fact that the US Department of Commerce excluded Pegas Touristik from the decree establishing export restrictions for a number of companies was announced on the evening of June 29 by Assistant Secretary of Commerce Matthew Axelrod. The US authorities included the tour operator in this list in June for a period of 180 days as a person “associated with an air carrier” operating in the Russian market.
We are talking about Nordwind Airlines, for which, like for Pobeda and S7 Airlines, the restrictions have been extended for 180 days. Aeroflot, Azur Air and Utair were the first to be included in this list in the spring of 2022. All of them are prohibited from exporting and re-exporting US-made components and their delivery through other countries.
Mr. Axelrod explained the exclusion from the list of Pegas Touristik by the need to enable the tour operator to carry out “additional administrative procedures”, the details of which are still unknown. Pegas Touristik CEO Anna Podgornaya did not respond promptly to Kommersant’s questions.
According to participants in the tourism industry, the share of Pegas Touristik in the Russian market of outbound organized tourism is 10-15%. The operator is one of the ten largest players, controlling 80% of the market.
According to SPARK, the beneficiary of Pegas Touristik LLC is a Turkish businessman Ramazan Akpinar, who, according to Kommersant, also has Russian citizenship. This legal entity is owned by Pegas Touristik UK Ltd, registered in the UK, which, in turn, as indicated in SPARK, is managed by Mr. Akpınar. Since March, his wife Karine Boukrei has owned 100% of the shares of Nordwind and Icarus airlines (formerly Pegas Fly). At the same time, she became the owner of Pegas Incoming, using the Pegas Touristik trademark.
Although there is no official clarification on the reasons for lifting restrictions on Pegas Touristik, Anton Imennov, senior partner at Pen & Paper, admits that the company could challenge its inclusion on the list. The document contained an indication of such a right.
“As justification, the company could refer to the non-compliance by US officials with the procedure for inclusion in the decree. For example, the procedure for notifying a person may not have been followed, or the possible impact of Pegas Touristik on a potential violation of US export control may not have been proven. Also, the company could prove that it is not a controlling person of Nordwind,” Anton Imennov believes.
According to the expert, “before being included in the decree, Pegas Touristik could actually legally bypass US export restrictions” and carry out charter flights on behalf of Nordwind with the help of Turkish airlines. “But this scheme was frozen after the inclusion of Pegas Touristik in the restrictive list,” adds Mr. Imennov.
The exclusion of Pegas Touristik from the list “seems to untie the company’s hands,” says Akderli Legal partner Daniil Akderli, but if the company continues to fly charters through Turkish partners again, it may be put back on the list.
In any case, Anton Imennov believes, the exclusion of Pegas Touristik from the decree again allows him to participate in trade with US companies and purchase American goods.
A Kommersant source in the travel market says that the export restrictions for Pegas Touristik did not affect the work of the tour operator with Russian tourists. However, Nordwind is severely limited in its operations. In particular, as Daniil Akderli explains, the company is prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in any way in any transaction related, among other things, to American-made aircraft that make up a significant part of the carrier’s fleet.
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