OREANDA-NEWS. Georgian Airways company intends to file a lawsuit to the European Court of Justice against the Russian Ministry of Transport in connection with the suspension of flights between Russia and Georgia. The sum of recovery is 25 million US dollars. This was stated by the CEO of the company Roman Bokeria.

According to him, the formal reason of the ban of the Ministry of Transport was related to the fact that Georgian Airways owed 800 thousand US dollars to Russian air navigation service. In addition, Russian officials were not satisfied with the company’s aviation security program.

“We declare with all responsibility that Georgian Airways does not have a cent debt to navigation service, despite the fact that we pay three times more taxes than Russian airlines,” Bokeria said. He also added that such claims are contrary to interstate agreements between Tbilisi and Moscow.

Commenting on the matter of aviation security, the top manager noted that Georgian Airways has been operating on the market for 27 years and has never had a problem with it in any country in the world. “The airline operates regular flights to almost all European countries. It is a member of IATA (International Air Transport Association. – Ed.),” Bokeria emphasized.

The Georgian Airways’s CEO also noted that the decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin dated June 21 said that only Russian airlines would be prohibited from flying. “So, the Ministry of Transport’s actions to ban Georgian Airways flights are illegal. As a result, the company suffered significant financial losses. The rights of our passengers were also violated,” Bokeria resumed.