OREANDA-NEWS. Managing Director, Volga-Dnepr Technic GmbH, Ildar Ilyasov has won a special award in the annual ARISTOS-2013 awards ceremony in Moscow that celebrated the 'best of the best' in the Russian business community.

Mr Ilyasov won the 'Our People in Germany' nomination and received his award from Vitali Shmelkov, First Board Chairman - CEO of the Germany-Russia Economic Alliance.

This ceremony, which attracts over 600 business leaders, was established by the Russian Managers Association, a public business community promoting the highest management standards. According to the Association's President, Dmitri Zelenin: “ARISTOS is an award for proactive, hardworking and persistent persons, and those who know trade. This is our opportunity to say thank you to business leaders for their efforts. We would like the basic principles of the ARISTOS Award to become a quality business standard for our society.”

Volga-Dnepr Group's presence in the German market started in 2004 to support its scheduled cargo operations and air charter services. Since then, a technical support base for the Group and Antonov Airlines' fleets has been established in Leipzig, Germany, and two affiliated companies - Ruslan Salis and Volga-Dnepr Technics GmbH - have been incorporated, successfully creating dozens of jobs. Volga-Dnepr Group has developed another strong business segment in Germany with the successful growth of its Boeing 747 and B737 all-cargo services through Frankfurt Airport.

In January 2013, another of the Group's key investments in the German market saw the opening of a new aircraft maintenance and repair services hangar facility at Leipzig/Halle airport.