Former US Army base in Germany, occasionally used to transport American military equipment in Europe, a regional airport in Frankfurt could now pass under the Russian flag.
At least when the Federal Minister of Economics and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck gives the green light for the sale of the bankrupt Frankfurt-Hahn Airport, which has long been overshadowed by the large Frankfurt Airport, to the Russian King of the Republic, Viktor Charitonin Pharmaindustrie and CEO of the Pharmstandard Group.
Critical infrastructure?
In fact, on Wednesday, February 8, the government picked up an attempt to buy this airport from one of the rare Russian multi-billionaires who are not yet affected by international sanctions because of the war started by Moscow Ukraine.
“The Ministry of Economics has commissioned the Ministry of the Interior to check whether Frankfurt-Hahn Airport is to be classified as a critical infrastructure,” the federal government announced.
Such a name would allow Berlin to block the sale due to a national security risk. In the context of the war in Ukraine, the prospect of a wealthy Russian businessman taking control of an airport has sparked an outcry for more than a week. And put the federal government in a tricky situation.
For Robert Habeck, the problem is threefold. First, it is difficult to form a picture of Viktor Kharitonin’s ties, who remains one of Russia’s most mysterious billionaires, with the Kremlin. No one then knows why he is willing to spend €20 million to acquire a bankrupt regional airport that has been struggling to find a buyer for almost a decade. After all, he has not disclosed his plans for this site and the more than 400 jobs that directly depend on it.
The state of Hesse, which holds more than 17% of Frankfurt-Hahn’s capital, is asking the government to block the sale. Handing over the keys to an airport in the heart of Europe, occasionally used by the US army, to a Russian “oligarch” in the middle of the war in Ukraine would have the worst effect, the regional government assures.
Beware of the crime of facies, the administrators of this institution have been answering the cessation of payment since 2021. They refuse to refuse the sale in principle, recalling that Viktor Kharitonin is already present in the region. In 2014, the billionaire bought the famous German circuit Nürburgring, which is located about 100 km from Frankfurt-Hahn Airport.
The businessman has also been on the black list since the beginning of the war – neither in the USA nor in Europe. “He has no particular influence in Moscow,” they want to believe.
An opinion not shared by everyone. In 2018, the head of the Pharmstandard group was included in an American list of more than 200 names of Russian personalities known to be close to Vladimir Putin.
Very discreet billionaire
But it’s difficult to know the real political influence of this billionaire as he retires from public life. He is one of the few wealthy Russians who has ever given an interview to the press, either Western or Russian, points out the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the main daily newspaper in southern Germany.
However, he had some of the most influential Russians as professional associates. The other co-founder of the Pharmstandard empire is none other than one of the most famous historical oligarchs on the international scene: Roman Abramovich, the former owner of British football club Chelsea.
“His current protectors also belong to the elite of the economic-political landscape in Moscow,” says an insider of the Russian political regime, who prefers to remain anonymous. In fact, Viktor Kharitonin can count on the support of Tatiana Golikova, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister, and Sergei Chemezov, the influential head of the Rostec concern and former KGB agent who was stationed in Dresden at the same time as Vladimir Cheese Fries.
Therefore, it is difficult to claim that the candidate for the acquisition of Frankfurt-Hahn will not be introduced into the circles of Russian power. But “that doesn’t mean that he’s only acting on orders from the Kremlin, especially in a case that’s not very important financially,” assures the expert interviewed by France 24.
The 20 million euros offered does not weigh very heavily for this billionaire, whose fortune is estimated at more than five billion dollars.
But why should one care about this airport, even for the “modest” sum of 20 million euros? This is another great mystery capturing the imagination of commentators across the Rhine. “The region is strategic for American military movements in Europe and arms deliveries to Ukraine,” assures Joachim Krause, German politician and expert on national security issues at the University of Kiel, in an interview with Südwestrundfunk (SWR).
The US Army, which operated this airport until 1992, continues to use it for the transit of their soldiers and ammunition. In the late 2000s, for example, American troops used this place as a stopover before leaving for Afghanistan and Iraq.
Strategic airport or billion dollar whim?
Other commentators, on the other hand, feel that this place is no longer so important to Americans. Viktor Kharitonin would probably have targeted this airport for the love of car racing. If he had the keys in his hand, he could arrive at the Nürburgring quickly and, above all, discreetly, estimates the daily news program of ARD, the first German television station.
The fight for control of this airport is also another chapter in a very tumultuous story. Germany has never succeeded in converting this former military base into an airport that could relieve that of Frankfurt, one of the largest in Europe. There was long talk of letting the Irish low-cost airline Ryanair take over the administration, but this project never came to fruition.
>> To read: A German airport should be bought by a “phantom” Chinese investor
In 2016, the airport thought it had found its Chinese savior: Shanghai Yiqian Trading had submitted a takeover bid. Problem: A quick search by the German media revealed that this group… probably didn’t exist or was a front company. The sale was then aborted urgently.
A few months later, another Chinese group emerged – the HNA Group. This time the offer seemed more serious, but Berlin had insisted that this Chinese company buy only 20% of the airport in order to remain a minority shareholder.
This also seems to be evident in the case of Viktor Kharitonin, who announced on Sunday 12 February that he could settle for 20% of Frankfurt-Hahn if necessary. The ball is now in the hands of Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck.