Former base for the US Army in Germany, used occasionally for the transport of American military equipment in Europe, a regional airport in Frankfurt could now pass... under the Russian banner.
At least, if Germany's Economics Minister and Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck gives the go-ahead for the sale of bankrupt Frankfurt Hahn Airport - which has long survived in the shadow of the great Frankfurt International Airport - to Viktor Kharitonin, the Russian king of the pharmaceutical industry and CEO of the Pharmstandard Group.
Critical infrastructure?
The government has, in fact, recognized, Wednesday, February 8, to have been seized of the attempt to buy this airport by one of the rare Russian multi-billionaires not yet to be targeted by international sanctions because of the war started by Moscow against Ukraine.
"The Ministry of Economics has instructed the Ministry of the Interior to assess whether Frankfurt-Hahn Airport should be considered critical infrastructure," the government said in a statement.
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 seeing a wealthy Russian businessman take control of an airport has indeed caused a real outcry for more than a week.
And put the German government in a delicate situation.
The problem is threefold for Robert Habeck.
Difficult, first, to get an idea of the links of Viktor Kharitonin, who remains one of the most mysterious Russian billionaires, with the Kremlin.
No one then knows why he is ready to spend 20 million euros to acquire a bankrupt regional airport, which has been struggling to find a buyer for almost a decade.
Finally, he did not reveal his plans for this site and the more than 400 jobs that depend directly on it.
The Land of Hesse, which holds more than 17% of the capital of Frankfurt-Hahn, implores the government to block the sale.
Giving the keys to an airport in the heart of Europe, occasionally used by the American army, in the middle of the war in Ukraine, to a Russian “oligarch” would have the worst effect, assures the regional government.
Beware of the crime of facies, reply the administrators of this establishment in cessation of payment since 2021. They refuse to oppose the sale in principle and recall that Viktor Kharitonin already has a presence in the region.
The billionaire bought, in 2014, the famous German racing circuit of Nürburgring, which is about 100 km from Frankfurt-Hahn airport.
The businessman has also been blacklisted - neither in the United States nor in Europe - since the start of the war.
“He has no particular influence in Moscow”, they want to believe.
An opinion that is not shared by all.
In 2018, the boss of the Pharmstandard group was placed on an American list of more than 200 names of Russian personalities known to be close to Vladimir Putin.
Very discreet billionaire
But it is difficult to know the real political influence of this billionaire, as he remains withdrawn from public life.
He is one of the few rich Russians to have never given an interview to the press, Western or even Russian, underlines the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the main daily newspaper in southern Germany.
He did, however, have some of the most influential Russians as professional fellow travelers.
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 are also part of the elite of the economic-political landscape in Moscow”, indicates a connoisseur of the Russian political regime who preferred to remain anonymous.
Viktor Kharitonin can, in fact, count on the support of Tatiana Golikova, the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, and Sergei Chemezov, the influential boss of the Rostec conglomerate and former KGB agent stationed in Dresden at the same time as Vladimir Cheese fries.
Difficult, therefore, to claim that the candidate for the acquisition of Frankfurt-Hahn is not introduced into the circles of Russian power.
But “that does not mean that he acts only on orders from the Kremlin, especially for a case that is not very important financially”, assures the expert interviewed by France 24.
The 20 million euros offered do not weigh very heavily for this billionaire whose fortune is estimated at more than five billion dollars.
But why be interested in this airport, even for the “modest” sum of 20 million euros.
This is another great mystery that stimulates the imagination of commentators across the Rhine.
“The region is strategic for American military movements in Europe and the delivery of arms to Ukraine”, assures Joachim Krause, German politician and specialist in national security issues at the University of Kiel, interviewed by Südwestrundfunk (SWR) radio. .
The US Army - which operated this airport until 1992 - continues to use it for the transit of its soldiers and ammunition.
At the end of the 2000s, for example, American troops used this site as a stopover before heading to Afghanistan and Iraq.
Strategic airport or billionaire whim?
Other commentators, on the other hand, think that this place is no longer as important to Americans.
Viktor Kharitonin would have set his sights on this airport rather out of love for car racing.
If he holds the keys, he could arrive quickly, and above all discreetly, at the Nürburgring circuit, estimates the Tageschau program of the ARD, the first German television channel.
The battle for control of this airport is also yet another chapter in a very turbulent history.
Germany has never succeeded in transforming this former military base into an airport capable of relieving that of Frankfurt, one of the largest in Europe.
There has long been talk of letting Ryanair, the Irish low-cost airline, manage it, but this project never came to fruition.
>> To read: A German airport was to be bought by a “phantom” Chinese investor
In 2016, the airport thought it had found its Chinese saviour: the company Shanghai Yiqian Trading had submitted a takeover offer.
Problem: a quick investigation by the German media had then shown that this group… probably did not exist or was a front company.
The sale was then urgently cancelled.
A few months later, another Chinese group - HNA Group - showed up.
This time, the offer seemed more serious, but Berlin had insisted that this Chinese company only buy 20% of the airport, in order to remain a minority shareholder.
This is what seems to be taking shape in the case of Viktor Kharitonin, who indicated on Sunday February 12 that he could be satisfied, if necessary, with 20% of Frankfurt-Hahn.
The ball is now in the court of German Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck.
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