Former KGB-agent-turned-tycoon Alexander Lebedev, the owner of three British newspapers, has offered to make his airlines, Red Wings, the backbone carrier in Russia's North Caucasus region, a Russian daily said on Friday.
Russian Gazeta newspaper said Lebedev, who owns National Reserve Corporation, is ready to headquarter Red Wings in the North Caucasus and base the airlines in one of the region's airports which will create additional jobs in the area.
Lebedev said that his proposal was in response to a recent address made by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to businessmen at the beginning of April while in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan.
The president said businessmen have the responsibility to help improve the economic and social situation in the country's volatile North Caucasus region.
Following the recent terrorist attacks in Moscow and the Dagestani town of Kizlyar, Medvedev said the goal for tougher action against terrorism in the North Caucasus should also focus on developing the region's economy and strengthening the moral and spiritual aspects of society.
Lebedev, who owns the Independent, the Independent on Sunday and the London Evening Standard, will benefit from the deal in both politically and economically as the 2014 Olympics in Sochi will draw new visitors.
Experts compare Lebedev's initiative to Telman Ismailov's, the owner of the ACT Group, whose plans are to build hotels with about 4,000 rooms in Sochi and its vicinity.
The Russian Federal Aviation Agency had earlier blocked Red Wings flights citing untimely filing of an application for charter programs. However, Lebedev said the reason was formal and the real reason was his refusal to become a sponsor of the Kryliya Sovetov Russian football club.
If Red Wings becomes the backbone carrier in the North Caucasus, Lebedev's airlines will receive federal support.
Lebedev's purchase of the Evening Standard has caused controversy in Britain over the Russian tycoon's background in the KGB.
Lebedev, along with former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, also co-owns the Russian opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta.
Red Wings, presently based in Moscow, is a discount airline using Russian Tupolev Tu-204-100 passenger airplanes. The airlines will soon complete its fleet with 14 new A320s and Airbus A321s, which used to belong to a fleet of the German Blue Wings charter airlines, also owned by Lebedev.
An impoverished, mountainous region, the North Caucasus has been plagued by militant violence for years, with attacks on police, soldiers and officials a daily occurrence. It has also seen two brutal separatist wars in Chechnya.
MOSCOW, April 9 (RIA Novosti)
