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 | Scholz hopes Armenia-Azerbaijan peace treaty will be signed this year German Chancellor Olaf Scholz hopes that a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be signed this year. Ucom equips four bus stops in Ijevan with free Wi-Fi Ucom now provides free Wi-Fi coverage in smart bus stops in four communities of Ijevan. Armenians stage more campaigns against territorial concessions to Azerbaijan Protesters blocked more roads across Armenia on Friday, April 26 in continuing attempts to scuttle territorial concessions to Azerbaijan. 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. |