Tulpar Air Aviakompania (TUL, Kazan International) has claimed RUB250.8 million rubles (USD3.1 million) in damages from former owner Azat Hakim, former general directors Sergei Trifonov and Oleg Zakharov, and Hakim's investment vehicle Tulpar Aero Group. The Tatarstan Arbitration Court accepted the claim on April 16 and set the next hearing in the ongoing legal saga for May 22, 2025.
The details of the claim have not been made public.
The compensation claim comes after Hakim's own legal actions forced the airline into bankruptcy earlier this year.
The business jet operator has been involved in a legal back-and-forth with Hakim since the former owner sold his 49% stake in March 2023. The investor was initially paid RUB420 million (USD5.2 million at the current exchange rate), but subsequently, he argued that his shares were undervalued and demanded an additional RUB890 million (USD11 million). The court eventually agreed with Hakim in December 2024, although it awarded him only RUB451 million (USD5.6 million). The operator then filed for bankruptcy in February 2025, registering RUB588 million (USD7.3 million) in debt.
Despite the bankruptcy proceedings, Tulpar Air Aviakompania continues to operate two Challenger 300s, one Global 5000, and two Challenger 850 on its commercial certificate. The company is currently wholly owned by TAIF, a local investment fund.
Tulpar Aero Group, the former owner of the operator, is owned by Azat Hakim (80% share) and his son, Aydar. The company owns a 59% stake in a similarly named Tulpar (RFE, Kazan International), which operates independently of Tulpar Air. Zakharov, the ex-general director of Tulpar Air named as one of the defendants in the damages lawsuit, is currently the general director of Tulpar.
