Russian government says Aeroflot to support struggling carrier VIM Airlines

Russian state-controlled airline Aeroflot will help private carrier VIM Airlines after it asked for financial aid from the state, the Russian government said Thursday. VIM Airlines, also known as VIM-AVIA, has canceled or delayed dozens of flights for the past few days as it requested state aid to keep it afloat. The statement said Aeroflot’s board of directors was to meet on Thursday to discuss ways to support the operations of VIM airlines but did not say how much it would contribute. A source in the air transportation industry told Reuters that Aeroflot, which is majority state-owned, would spend some 1.85b roubles ($31.92m) to support VIM Airlines. Rosaviatsiya, Russia’s aviation watchdog, has said that VIM Airlines owes six banks some 7b roubles. Russia’s Investigative Committee, the state body which probes major crimes, said in a statement on Thursday that VIM Airlines’ director general and chief accountant had been detained on suspicion of fraud.<br/>