Business
In February 1991, a businessman from Ekaterinburg Anton Bakov registered JV East Line to engage in air transportation services. That is when Dmitry Kamenshchik, became the general representative of the newly created JV in Moscow.[9]
In 1992, JV East Line stopped operating. Kamenshchik saw it as a chance to become East Line brand owner and continue the air transportation business.[10]
Starting from 1993 East Line leased aircraft and launched charter flights to Europe and Asia. Kamenshchik created a similarly-named airline progressively beefing up its own aircraft fleet and making it to the leaders of air cargo market.[11]
In 1994 East Line company set up its core business at the premises of Domodedovo Airport: catering service, cargo operations, handling, etc. In a quid-pro-quo arrangement the Airport provided outworn plant and equipment, whereas East Line ran reconstruction of airport facilities and revamped its management system.[12]
The year 1998 was a true game-changer for Kamenshchik. It was when all the previous frenetic activity started paying off for his company - and him personally. East Line managed to strike a 75-year Lease for the Domodedovo airdrome complex not subject to private ownership (runways, taxiways, aircraft parking stands), thus getting the right to operate it on a long-term basis.[13]
The above deals for the transfer of lease and ownership rights were subject to state scrutiny. Since 2004 the Federal Agency for State Property Management (Rosimuschestvo) tried to challenge the granting of such rights to East Line at court, but in 2006-2008 the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court upheld the legitimacy of the deals by three rulings.[14]
To improve the airport’s connectivity, in 2002 Kamenshchik also tried to flirt with the machinery industry as he saw pockets of value in this market, which was then experiencing a certain shortage of electric trains. The result was that his company purchased a 98.19% block of Demikhovskiy Machinery Factory. To add to this spree, Transmash, a project office for transport engineering, was set up and two big purchases were made - Tsentrosvar Factory and Oktyabrskiy Electric Car Repair Factory. In 2004 East Line sold both its own airline company and machinery assets at a profit, as Kamenshchik decided to take his foot off this non-core business pedal and focus on the airport business.[9][15]
The management system introduced by Kamenshchik made Domodedovo Airport number one in Russia in terms of passenger traffic since 2005; the airport was listed among Europe's major airports in 2011.[16][17][18]
After the terrorist attack at Domodedovo Airport in January 2011 law enforcement authorities tried to determine ultimate owners of the Airport.[19]
In the same year during the run-up for the IPO the holding company published information about the final beneficiary at the London Stock Exchange website and specified Kamenshchik as its sole owner.[20][21] However, the IPO was postponed[22] due to the unfavourable current market environment.
In September 2013 it was officially announced[2] on the Airport’s website that the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Moscow Domodedovo Airport Dmitry Kamenshchik was its ultimate owner.
To buttress its airport business DME Ltd., Kamenshchik’s holding company, develops the second arm, an aviation-driven Aerotropolis.[23] The core idea is to create a synergetic conurbation around the Airport which will be a massive industrial cluster integrating business parks, logistic and transport hubs, shopping malls, industrial centers and hotel resorts.[24]