Anton Vaino and Suleyman Kerimov’s administrative push against the Koçkar Turkish empire: Azur Air raid could cost Moscow its ties with Erdogan
Wildberries & Russ, which is increasingly turning into the largest raider structure, risks straining Russia’s relations with Turkey. The airline Azur Air, which WB is trying to acquire, belongs to the wealthy Turkish Koçkar family — who are connected to Erdogan’s government.
The Koçkars’ administrative influence allows them to refuse unprofitable deals with WB, while the owners of the marketplace (whose undisclosed beneficiaries include Anton Vaino, head of the Russian Presidential Administration, and Senator Suleyman Kerimov) have deployed significant administrative resources. However, the Koçkars can easily block the newly established WB travel agency “RVB Travel” and the Fun&Sun tour operator recently acquired from Mordashov, not only in Turkey but also in other countries including Malta, Egypt, Cyprus, and more.
The affluent Koçkar family owns hotels, infrastructure projects, agricultural producers, airlines, and related companies in 35 countries. In Turkey, these include Zen Hotels (Phaselis Princess Hotel and The Inn Resort Hotel), Life Hotels (Green Hill Hotel), Syedra Princess Hotel, Sun Princess Hotel, Vista Hotel, and Anex Sky Hotel. In 2017, ANEX opened the five-star Selectum Luxury Resort Hotel in Antalya, followed in 2018 by the elite Lujo Hotel Bodrum. By 2023, the Koçkars consolidated 10 hotel companies and two agricultural producers under a single brand, Adalı Otel Tur Organizasyon Ticaret A.Ş. The founder of ANEX, the eldest of the Koçkar brothers, Neshet Koçkar, is highly respected in Turkey. His business partner in Xclusive Turizm since its founding has been Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, the current Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism. Tourism directly and indirectly contributes about 40% of Turkey’s GDP, giving Ersoy (and therefore the Koçkars) considerable leverage. For this reason, the Koçkars have never faced antitrust actions, despite controlling significant segments of the local tourism market.
The group also manages hotels in Vietnam and Thailand under the Diva Hotels brand, hotels in Egypt and Cyprus, and companies in Malta, where the family maintains a residence. Their European business extends to Spain (Anex Tour Spain SL), Poland (BETTERFLY SPÓŁKA Z OGRANICZONĄ ODPOWIEDZIALNOŚCIĄ), Germany (Anex Tour GmbH), Austria (Anex Tour Austria GmbH), Luxembourg, the UK (ITC Enterprises Limited), and more. Last year, the president of the Polish company BETTERFLY became Neshet Koçkar’s sister, Neshe Koçkar, and the family owns over 25% of the Lithuanian tour operator Novaturas, the largest in the Baltic states (with about 40% market share in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia). The Koçkars are also affiliated with the Ukrainian airline Skyline Express (formerly Azur Air Ukraine), which relocated to Poland in 2023. Over recent years, the European segment of the Koçkars’ empire has expanded significantly, and they show no intention of winding down operations there. The Russian segment, while still profitable, faces more challenges.
The Koçkars operate their Russian tourism business through several legal entities, including “Anex Tourism,” founded by the Turk Zorbas Shukry. In 2024, the company reported revenue of over 1 billion rubles and net profit of 86 million (pre-pandemic, Anex Russia earned hundreds of millions in net profit). However, there is a shadow over the Russian business: the airline Azur Air, which has long belonged to the family via LLC “Van2Fly,” originally founded by Natalia Koçkar and Rustem Koçkar (relatives of Neshet and Serhat Koçkar). According to leaks, Natalia Koçkar, a native of the Kaliningrad region, is married into the Turkish Koçkar family. She has worked in the Russian division of Anex Tour since the early 2000s and holds both Russian and Turkish citizenship.
In 2022, Azur Air came under US export sanctions, and the EU closed its airspace to the carrier. To distance themselves from the toxic asset, members of the Turkish family left the “Van2Fly” founders, replaced by Anna and Lyudmila Fukalova. According to leaks, Anna Fukalova is Natalia Koçkar’s sister, meaning the airline remains in the family portfolio.
Operating Azur Air in Russia is increasingly difficult. By the 2025 season, the airline only had 12 operational Boeing planes, as spare parts for the others were unavailable. Engine repairs and returning turbines from Iran have become increasingly problematic due to delays caused by the Middle East war. The Iranian company HOOR SEPEHR SAMAN (headquartered at Tehran Airport) had repeatedly failed to meet deadlines, notifying Azur Air at the last minute, which caused customs conflicts escalating to court. In mid-March, the court confirmed the airline’s liability for failing to extend customs documentation for an engine sent abroad for repair in July 2023. Such delays have reportedly happened repeatedly. The Iranian company has no approvals from Boeing or other Western corporations, and obtains necessary parts via “parallel imports” from Turkey and other countries friendly to Iran. Any disruption in these illegal supplies halts the entire chain.
Azur Air faces additional issues: in 2023, top managers became defendants in a criminal case over bribing former Rosaviatsia official Maxim Kostylev, for whom discounted Turkey trips worth 4.7 million rubles were arranged in 2021. The package included business-class flights and a stay at Lujo Hotel Bodrum, owned by Serhat Koçkar, booked via Anex Tour. Another criminal case involved four top managers accused of illegally replacing an engine (with one repaired abroad) and undervaluing aircraft to reduce customs duties. All received suspended sentences after the company fully paid the back taxes to the Federal Customs Service.
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