MOSCOW, September 12 (RIA Novosti) – Nice, the leading year-round European destination for wealthy Russians, is seeing a decline in private jets from Moscow for the first time since 2009 due to EU sanctions, according to Bloomberg.
The European sanctions against Russia have restricted travel for top Russian businesspeople and politicians causing private aircraft flights from Moscow to Nice to drop five percent in the seven months through July, the first fall since 2009, Umberto Vallino, head of business aviation development for the Nice, Cannes and St. Tropez airports, said in an interview with Bloomberg.
With summer visits to the French Riviera on the decline, Alpine ski trips similarly popular with Russian private jet customers are also facing a drop, Geneva Airport CEO Robert Deillon said.
More than 140 people and 50 to 60 companies are already affected by the sanctions and the number grew today as a new round of restrictions came into force, Bloomberg said, citing research from law firm Debevoise and Plimpton.
The new sanctions imposed by the European Union against Russia over its alleged role in the Ukrainian crisis target the country’s major defense and energy companies. Brussels also added 24 individuals, including senior Russian parliamentarians and businessmen to the list, blocking travel to the European Union and freezing assets.
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that Moscow regrets the European Union's decision to impose new sanctions against Russia, stressing that Brussels fails to see the reality of the situation in eastern Ukraine and the steps both sides are taking toward peace.
The Kremlin official referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s peace plan, which he proposed to the conflicting sides two days before Kiev and the eastern regions of Ukraine reached a ceasefire agreement on September 5 in Minsk.
