In some respects Russia’s development has followed a pattern familiar to Westerners, but that is not true for its business aviation industry. While Russian billionaires show off their huge yachts in the most expensive and trendy places in the world, buy A380s for personal use, haunt French ski resorts and buy islands off Dubai, some of the nation’s laws prevent wealthy individuals from reaping the benefits of business aircraft.
The current regulations are impeding the development of an industry that could benefit the 136,000 Russian millionaires still living at home and the nation as a whole, since liberalization of the rules could bring in a lot of money and create jobs. For now, most Russian-owned business jets are based outside the country because operators want to avoid the homeland’s extensive paperwork, limited slots, high parking prices, poorly trained employees and high taxes (20-percent import duties and 18-percent VAT). In addition, for many operators technical support is available only in nearby European countries.
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