Russian freight company Volga Dnepr has launched an unusual legal fight to reclaim one of its An-124 cargo planes from Canada, and legal experts say it might just work. The aircraft was flown to Toronto from Anchorage loaded with COVID pandemic supplies the night Russia invaded Ukraine. Canada closed its airspace to Russian aircraft and the huge aircraft has been parked on the ramp at Pearson International Airport ever since. Earlier this year, Canada promised to seize the plane and donate it to Ukraine but the transfer hasn’t yet occurred. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is reporting Volga-Dnepr may have found a trade agreement that will further complicate that process at the very least.
In 1989, then-Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet president at the time, signed an agreement to foster trade as the USSR disbanded and moved toward capitalism. That deal includes a dispute mechanism that allows Volga-Dnepr to formally challenge what it considers unfair treatment, and it gives Canada a deadline to answer the charge. “If the dispute is not resolved within six months of Canada’s receipt of the notification, Volga-Dnepr Airlines will formally initiate arbitration proceedings,” the company said in a media statement. “Volga-Dnepr remains open to negotiations with Canadian representatives to resolve the issue and return the aircraft.” Canada has confirmed it received notice of the legal action but did not comment in detail.
