In an interview with the Kommersant newspaper, Igor Levitin said that Sheremetyevo airport had proposed that the transport ministry consolidate state-owned stakes in Russia's largest airports.
"The proposal fits in the concept of establishing a national network of airports, developed by the transport ministry," Levitin said.
State-controlled stakes in airport hubs and medium-sized strategic airports in Samara, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Omsk, Astrakhan and a number of cities in southern Russia could be consolidated first. The holding could hold an IPO and sell up to 49% of its shares on the market in the future.
Levitin said the final decision to establish a state-owned holding would be made after the government had considered the management concept for airports' federal property in April.
