"Putin's Power Play: St. Petersburg Airport Taken Back from Foreign Investors"
Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the transfer of all rights to manage St. Petersburg's Pulkovo airport from foreign shareholders, including Germany's Fraport AG and the Qatari wealth fund, by consolidating their stakes into a new Russian entity. The existing investors will retain their stakes but won't have voting rights, which will be held only by Russian shareholders in the new company. This move differs from previous asset seizures by the Kremlin and raises the possibility of restoring voting rights for foreign investors. Russia has been taking control of local operations of international holdings in retaliation for measures taken abroad to punish the Kremlin over the war in Ukraine.