Brussels, 26/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - European Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas has urged his Russian counterpart, Maxim Sokolov, to respect the formal commitment on the phasing-out of Siberian over-flight levies imposed on European airlines. Discussion focused well and truly on aviation when the two men met in Moscow on 22 March, as EU-Russia relations are not at their best.
Siim Kallas spoke of Russia's formal commitment to do away with the Siberian over-flight levies in exchange for the EU's go-ahead to Russian membership of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Although the aim was to phase-out levies from the end of 2011, this will obviously not be the case. Russia could continue to impose the levy as a means of pressure against the European emissions trading system (ETS) imposed on aviation. European sources say that the commissioner has therefore underlined that these were two quite separate issues and that it was unacceptable for Russia to make an artificial link between them in this way.
Kallas, moreover, apparently informed the Russian authorities that the European Commission is currently preparing a roadmap on EU-Russia relations in aviation and that the question of reciprocal treatment of Russian carriers flying over European territory was part of those deliberations.
The commissioner is reported to have said that the charge for over-flight of Siberia was archaic and counter-productive for the development of Russia's aviation industry as such. The payments are not transparent at all and the bulk of the money goes straight into Aeroflot coffers. This deprives the government of desperately needed resources in air navigation equipment to improve the functioning of Russia's overall air transport system.
Nonetheless, Kallas concluded the discussion on a positive note. He “tweeted” that he had agreed with Sokolov “to relaunch our aviation dialogue based on the deliverables of the October 2011 EU-Russia Aviation Summit”. (MD/transl.jl)