 U.S. travel agency sues Russia’s Aeroflot February 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 |  Latest news U.S. welcomes Armenia, Azerbaijan’s border delimitation announcement  Blinken said it is an important step towards concluding a durable and dignified peace agreement.Residents Of border villages protest as Armenia, Azerbaijan agree on delimitation Residents of several Armenian communities in the northeastern Tavush province began protests late on Friday.European Parliament to discuss repression in Azerbaijan The European Parliament will discuss repression of civil society in Azerbaijan on April 24PACE wants concessions from Azerbaijan to accept Baku back A PACE co-rapporteur said that Azerbaijani authorities must make certain concessions so that the country can return to PACE. |
