Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says pursuing forfeiture of a seized Russian cargo plane that has been parked for years at Toronto Pearson International Airport has forced the government to “disentangle” the aircraft’s complex ownership structure.
“This is a legal process, but it’s also in the context of: ‘How else can we help Ukraine in its time of need?’” Anand said at a Friday news conference.
“The owners of the Antonov aircraft used complex corporate structures that have required significant time to disentangle.”
Anand’s remarks are the latest government update on the fate of the seized Antonov An-124, one of the largest aircraft ever manufactured.
On Friday, Anand called the prolonged saga “complicated.”
The plane has been parked in Toronto since February 2022, after it had been contracted by the Canadian government to fly in a shipment of COVID-19 rapid test kits from China.
While it sat on the tarmac to unload the shipment, Canada’s Transport Ministry closed the country’s airspace to all Russian aircraft in response to that country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
WATCH | Anand gives an update on forfeiture of Russian plane:
Canada is seeking forfeiture of a Russian cargo plane in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The aircraft has been sitting on the Toronto Pearson International Airport’s tarmac since February 2022.
The plane, which was manufactured by Ukrainian company Antonov and operated by Russian airline Volga-Dnepr, has been banned from departing Canada ever since.
“We have held legal possession of the plane since the beginning of the illegal invasion — to ensure it could not be used against Ukraine,” Anand said Friday.
Russians call seizure ‘shameless theft’
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has called the act “a cynical and shameless theft,” and in August 2023, Volga-Dnepr served notice of its intent to initiate a formal dispute with the Canadian government over the plane.
Anand said the government is seeking forfeiture of the plane by going to court, a process which requires the feds to serve notice to the Russian oligarchs who own the aircraft.
Throughout the spring and summer, the federal government served notice to five of the six entities it must reach to ensure due process.
Unable to reach the sixth, the Canadian government has been forced to prepare a court motion to deem the final entity served and proceed to a hearing.
In a parallel court proceeding, Volga-Dnepr is invoking a 1989 bilateral investment agreement between the Russian Federation and Canada to argue it has grounds to sue for damages.
The Canadian government would return the Antonov to Ukraine if the forfeiture is granted, though the plane is expected to need significant service after spending so long on the ground.
“Russia completely obliterated some of Ukraine’s Antonov aircrafts that were in Ukraine at the beginning of the war,” Anand said. “And so this is in a sense replenishing the Antonov fleet.”
Because of the complexity of the forfeiture case, however, it’s unclear whether the cargo plane will become the possession of the federal government anytime soon.
