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Ministry Proposes Fee on Passengers to Finance Airports

The Transportation Ministry and the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service have drafted a proposal to introduce a special fee for airline passengers to finance the development of airport infrastructure around Moscow, a report said Monday.

The fee will will be collected either in the form of regular fixed payments or as a share of revenue paid by companies that use airport infrastructure, Izvestia said.

Transportation Ministry officials confirmed discussing the initiative.

According to the draft proposal, the amount of the fee will be regulated by the government, the report said.

Sources inside the Transportation Ministry say airlines may be allowed to include the fee in the price of passenger tickets, Izvestia said.

The fee will be used for financing the development of airport infrastructure. Although the initial proposal concerns the introduction of the new fee at Moscow's airports, the initiative may later be extended to all Russian airports, the Transportation Ministry's press office said.

Meanwhile, government insiders speculate that the Transportation Ministry's proposal will not be accepted, because it contradicts President Vladimir Putin's initiative to freeze airline ticket price hikes.

The initiative's fate may be decided at a meeting presided by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev this week.

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