Putin clears way for state to sell 30% stake in Moscow's biggest airport

MOSCOW, Aug 7 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin has given the green light for the sale of the government's 30.4% stake in Sheremetyevo airport, Moscow's largest, at a time when Russia is seeking to bolster its war-depleted state finances.

Putin paved the way for the sale by signing a decree on Thursday that removes Sheremetyevo from the official list of strategic enterprises. But the state will retain a controlling "golden share", enabling it to block any management decisions it opposes.

The decree prevents the stake from being sold to foreign buyers, and requires the purchaser to continue the company's core business and modernisation.

Russia' state budget has been strained by four and a half years of war in Ukraine. Its federal deficit could exceed official plans by more than 1 trillion roubles ($12.85 billion) in 2026, according to data published last month.

The deficit was 5.73 trillion roubles ($69.6 billion), or 2.5% of GDP, in the first half of the year, 1.7 times higher than in the same period of 2025.

Sixty-six percent of the airport is owned by Russian company Sheremetyevo Holding, whose ultimate owners are not publicly disclosed. Before its redomiciling from Cyprus in 2022 it was controlled by firms owned by Putin's close friend Arkady Rotenberg and Rotenberg's partners.

Sheremetyevo is Russia's largest airport, owning and operating terminals with capacity to handle up to 87 million passengers a year. Actual numbers were 43.5 million in 2025.

Despite Western sanctions and flight restrictions, airports are still profitable thanks to a growth in traffic on domestic routes and to "friendly" countries such as Turkey, Egypt and Vietnam.

In January this year Sheremetyevo purchased 100% of another major Moscow airport, Domodedovo, for 66 billion roubles at auction.

Domodedovo, which was nationalised at the Prosecutor General's request in June 2025, has annual traffic of around 15 million passengers.

($1 = 82.3000 roubles)

(Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)