Kommersant
Tourists sold non-existent charter flights
A high demand for skiing holidays in France has prompted a number of airlines to sell tickets for unlicensed charter flights to Grenoble and Chambery. The Federal Agency for Tourism (Rostourism) has warned travel agencies that ticketholders for such flights will not be able to fly to France.
Rostourism posted a warning to tour operators on its website that air carriers have appeared on the market offering charter flights to the French Alps without clearance for such flights. This warning does not name any companies, but a Kommersant source in the industry claims they are referring to Moskovia and Orenburg Airlines.
The source told Kommersant that the Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) has issued a warning against flights by Moskovia and Orenburg Airlines, which may have been ordered by the Spektrum tour operator on behalf of Ertzog, a specialist in skiing holidays. The source claims that Spektrum asked these airlines to make the appropriate travel arrangements, saying that it will resolve all the problems relating to charter scheduling.
Spektrum CEO Yevgenia Konkol refused to comment on reports by unnamed sources. “We have been selling tours to France for several years now and, naturally, our partners have clearance to perform the flights,” she added without specifying the companies concerned.
Mikhail Musinyants, general director of Ertzog, assured Kommersant that his company did not cooperate with Orenburg Airlines in flights to France for the New Year, and left the question about Moskovia unanswered. Ertzog’s website carries no details about tours to ski resorts in France. “We do not specify the carrier in advance,” Musinyants said. “Our clients are given all the details just before the flight.”
According to Rostourism, in the period between December 1 and March 1 Russian carriers are allowed to make no more than 100 charter flights to Grenoble and Chambery. As of December 7, 2010, 98% of this quota had been used. Any dealings with companies that are not licensed to perform international charter flights will leave holidaymakers unable to leave for the French Alps, Rostourism said.
Rosaviatsia confirmed this information, adding that license issues had been resolved in October and November. Sergei Izvolski, an adviser to the Rosaviatsia head, said that any revision of this charter program is unlikely. “Airlines have no right to sell tickets for unscheduled flights,” he noted.
According to Rosaviatsia, the agency had previously refused to clear charter flights to Grenoble and Chambery for Moskovia, Orenburg Airlines, Vladivostok Avia, Kavminvody Avia and Sky Express.
This year, the demand for ski tours to France is up 15%, Musinyants says. In December 2009, almost 34,400 Russians went skiing in the French Alps, and 48,800 in January 2010.
Izvestia
Bomb on the line
Every day “telephone terrorists” plant their “bombs” in different parts of Russia. Each fake call inflicts financial losses and sometimes claims lives. Paradoxically pranksters are rarely punished, as only one-third of these cases are solved and only a quarter of the perpetrators are taken to court. As Izvestia learned, these “jokers” are proving so evasive because no one is dedicated to tracking them down.
An overexcited crowd swarms out into the schoolyard: a bomb has apparently been planted in the school building. Students enjoy the routine, despite the nagging fear – what if this time it’s for real?
Classes are suspended for an hour – ten minutes while the building is evacuated and 50 minutes while the bomb squad and dogs are sent in. The student who made that call didn’t want to wait until after school before buying a new cell phone. Counting the time spent by the police and teachers, this cost up to $300.
Bomb scares are on the rise, police say. Universities, airports, rail stations, courts and stores all fall victim. The police recorded 1,292 hoax calls over a nine month period, 20 calls a month more than in 2009. It might be tempting to shrug off bomb scares as no big deal. However, one Voronezh hospital had to evacuate 800 patients after what turned out to be a hoax call: 172 of them were seriously ill. One patient died.
Only 30% of cases are solved. “We don’t have the equipment to track them down,” one Moscow interior department officer complained. Really? When airports receive these “warnings,” they have no trouble identifying the caller. “We find 90% of them. We almost always succeed, with the assistance of the Federal Security Service,” said a police officer at Sheremetyevo Airport.
Telecoms professionals agree that modern networks help. “It was difficult last century, with analogue networks. Now we have this billing system. It is essentially a massive computer that tracks calls,” said Andrei Donskoi from the MGTS service provider.
Thanks to CCTV it is even possible to identify someone calling from a payphone. Those smart enough to remove their SIM card and call an emergency line can be tracked using their handset’s IMEI code. Calls from abroad are more difficult to track, but it is possible.
So perhaps the police are just not trying hard enough. In most cases, they deploy a bomb squad and local investigating officer, but there’s little glory in catching a schoolboy or a drunk and it’s seen as not worth the trouble.
Although in theory the culprits could get up to three years behind bars, they rarely get more than one. Jail sentences, which risk turning them into hardened criminals, are of dubious benefit.
Financial penalties might prove a better deterrent. The government, airline or railway could sue for damages. If people see someone lose his apartment after a hoax call, these pranks would seem less funny. In some U.S. states, a hoax call could cost the caller up to $250,000.
RBC Daily
Hefty fines for bribing officials
Courts will soon be authorized to fine both bribe givers and takers 100-times the amount of the bribe offered. However, some courts are already doing this without waiting for the relevant amendment to the country’s Criminal Code to be approved by parliament.
The amendment, initiated by President Dmitry Medvedev, introduces N-fold fines for corruption, where the value of N is to be set by the court depending on the gravity of the offense. The upper limit will be a 100-fold fine.
Garegin Abramyan, head of Moscow-based company Biofarm, was recently fined 1.1 million rubles (over $35,000) for offering a 3,000-ruble ($100) bribe to a police officer. Abramyan tried to bribe the officer during an inspection of one of the company’s cafes, which was apparently failing to record all sales transactions through a cash register.
He must have come across an honest policeman (or one insulted by the meager size of the bribe offered), who opened a bribery case against Biofarm in addition to the initial administrative charges.
A similar ruling was passed in the city of Kirov. Alexei Pritykin, CEO of the local company Cool-Trade was also fined 1.1 million rubles for offering a bribe to the local customs director.
“These two rulings may be viewed as pilot decisions before amendments to the Criminal Code are adopted, so that law enforcers can see how it works and what obstacles they may face,” said Pavel Larin, a legal expert.
As for obstacles, there may be many. “Recent company debt collection experiences show that business owners tend to avoid paying their debts. They try to transfer their assets or bankrupt the company,” he added.
The amendments must also target individuals and self-employed entrepreneurs: multi-million fines cannot be applied to them under the existing legislation.
Courts will start imposing heavy fines as soon as the bill is signed into law.
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