- Volga-Dnepr Group of Cargo Airlines has been taken over by Evraz Avia Service LLC, a newly established company owned by former aviation executive Evgeny Solodilin, which now controls 100 percent of AirBridgeCargo and Volga-Dnepr-Moscow and 67 percent of Atran.
- Although ownership has formally changed, the structure is encumbered by share pledges in favour of the former owners, who remain in management, following failed discussions to transfer the heavily indebted, sanction-hit group to the Russian state.
- Once a global leader in super-heavy and oversized airfreight, Volga-Dnepr’s operations have been severely reduced since 2022 due to international sanctions, aircraft seizures and grounded fleets, leaving only a small number of its An-124 and other cargo aircraft airworthy.
Volga-Dnepr, has been taken over by a company owned by former aviation executive Evgeny Solodilin, according to official corporate records.
Data from Russia’s Unified State Register of Legal Entities shows Evraz Avia Service LLC (EAS) acquired control of key companies within the Volga-Dnepr Group of Cargo Airlines at the end of December. The group unites Volga-Dnepr Airlines, Atran and AirBridgeCargo, which were once major players in the global market for heavy and oversized airfreight.
EAS, owned by Mr Solodilin, now holds 100 percent of AirBridgeCargo LLC and Volga-Dnepr-Moscow LLC, and a 67 percent stake in Atran LLC. The remaining 33 percent of Atran is owned by the airline itself.
However, the new ownership structure is complicated by pledges attached to EAS’s shares. These are held in favour of the companies’ former owners, who continue to make up the group’s management. Among them are Igor Aksenov, the general director of Volga-Dnepr Airlines, and Dmitry Sorokin, head of Atran.
Kommersant first reported negotiations over Solodilin’s purchase of the Volga-Dnepr Group in September, citing unnamed sources. The talks followed months of uncertainty over the future of the heavily indebted and sanction-hit holding.
Earlier, in August, the group’s founder, Alexei Isaikin, had told staff that the business might be transferred to the state. Management later formally offered the asset to the government, according to the newspaper. Some sources suggested that senior executives were attempting to save the loss-making company from bankruptcy.
The proposal was ultimately rejected. The Russian Ministry of Transport said that state participation in the group “under sanctions” would contradict the anti-sanctions development model envisaged for the holding, Kommersant reported, citing a letter from the ministry.
Until 2022, Volga-Dnepr was among the world’s largest operators in the niche market of super-heavy and oversized cargo transport. Its fleet included the rare Antonov An-124 aircraft, capable of carrying exceptionally large loads.
That position was severely undermined after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Between 2022 and 2024, the group came under sanctions imposed by Canada, the European Union, the United Kingdom and the United States. Its foreign-registered aircraft stopped flying in 2022.
According to available data, only three of the group’s 11 An-124 aircraft are currently airworthy, while four were seized abroad. The group also operates five Il-76 cargo planes. Atran, which previously had nine Boeing aircraft in its fleet, now flies only two An-12 turboprops. AirBridgeCargo’s 14 Boeing aircraft are in storage.
Evraz Avia Service itself is a newly established company. Records show it was registered by Solodilin in Zhukovsky, near Moscow, in February 2025, with an authorised capital of one million roubles.
Solodilin is a well-known figure in Russia’s aviation sector. He headed Zhukovsky Airport from 2016 to 2022 and later ran Red Wings Airlines from 2022 to 2024. Red Wings is now part of the state-owned Rostec corporation.
