The Russians are Coming!

Mayor Victor Fedeli
News Release

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A Russian delegation is visiting the City of North Bay next week to further discussions regarding TransPolar flights.

Mayor Victor Fedeli has been dealing with the Russian legislators over the last two years, including face-to-face discussions at an Ottawa Summit this Spring. The purpose is to negotiate the North Bay landing of Russian cargo aircraft that would use the North Pole route, as opposed to the traditional East-West route, which requires re-fueling in Alaska.

The delegation includes:

Dmitry Bystrov, Acting Trade Commissioner
(Acting Head, Trade Mission of the Russian Federation in Canada)

Dmitry Panin, Assistant Trade Commissioner
Trade Mission of the Russian Federation in Canada

Yury Vladimirovich Paranichev
Deputy Governor of Irkutsk Region

Sergey Vasilyevich Serebrennikov
Mayor of Bratsk

Leonid Mikhailovich Barkov
Mayor's Adviser

Sumbaev Sergey Ivanovich
Director of Bratsk Airport

Evgenia Petrovna Lapchenko
Interpreter

The group will arrive in North Bay on Monday, July 16 (from a similar mission in Sault Ste. Marie) for dinner with local aviation-related officials. On Tuesday the group will tour the North Bay Airport and meet with officials to discuss technical abilities of our site, followed by a tour of Canadore College Aviation Centre.

On Wednesday at 11 a.m. Mayor Fedeli will lead the group to meet with the Honourable Donna Cansfield, Ontario’s inister of Transportation, to continue briefing her on the possibilities of TranPolar flights.

“This is still a long way off”, stated Mayor Fedeli. “The option of flying over the North Pole still presents logistical challenges, but our 10,000’ runway and our history of Russian aircraft utilizing our airport in the past, has opened the door to continued communications with our Russian counterparts”.

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