U.S. travel agency sues Russia’s AeroflotFebruary 9, 2012 - 14:56 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. Riviera Travel & Tours filed a nearly $3.5 billion suit in District Court for the Central District of California against Russian flagship airline Aeroflot accusing it of extortion, RIA Novosti reported, citing RAPSI legal news agency. Under the suit, a copy of which was obtained by RAPSI, Riviera and Aeroflot signed an agreement providing exclusive rights for the firm to wholesale tickets on Aeroflot flights to the United States, after which Aeroflot began demanding kickbacks from sales revenue, threatening to cancel the contract otherwise. Riviera refused to pay and then had to concede wholesale rights to Downtown Travel, although it retained rights to retail sales. The travel agency charges Aeroflot airline officials Andrei Novokshonov and Alexei Aleksandrov with violating the U.S. Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Aeroflot declined to comment the information. In October 2011 Aeroflot filed a suit against Riviera arguing it faced losses of about $315,000 for fraudulent operations by the U.S. travel firm in 2009-2010 when Riviera had no license. The court hearing is scheduled for October 16, 2012. Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Czech-Armenian military cooperation discussed in Yerevan A delegation led by the Director General for the Industrial Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic visited Armenia. U.S. welcomes efforts to define Armenia-Azerbaijan border The United States welcomes efforts to define the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, says Vedant Patel. Biden honors resilience of Armenian people on April 24 U.S. President Joe Biden has issued a statement on the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Ex-Karabakh leader moved to solitary confinement cell in Baku, his son says David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. |