SkyTeam Executives

Aeroflot View JPEG

Vitaly G. Saveliev

Aeroflot CEO

Mr. Vitaly G. Saveliev assumed the position of the Director General and CEO of Aeroflot – Russian Airlines in April 2009.

The value Mr. Saveliev brings to the role is based on the wide range of experience he has gained through a professional background that covers many industries. This experience is bolstered by his profound understanding of both the private and public sector in the post-Soviet economic landscape. Mr. Saveliev has had comprehensive educational training as well as a high level exposure to international business networks, thus making him a valuable asset for Aeroflot in a period of critical development.

Born in 1954 in Tashkent (USSR), Mr. Saveliev holds several academic degrees. After being trained as a mechanical engineer at Leningrad Polytechnic Institute in the USSR, he later chose to major in Economics and Business Administration at well-known Western schools.

Prior to his current position in Aeroflot, Mr. Saveliev held various roles in the private sector in industries as diverse as construction, energy, IT, banking, and telecoms. He was also involved with several Russian blue chip businesses – Gazprom, Menatep Bank, and Sistema Corporation, to name a few – at top level positions. He launched and led successful start-ups like JSC Dialog Ltd., one of the first Russian-American joint ventures in the computer trading market.

Mr. Saveliev also has a great deal of experience in the public sector. From 2004 – 2007, he was involved in policy-making at Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development and Trade. He played a vital part in a number of policy-making activities, influencing a broad scope of critically important matters across a wide range of issues such as budgeting, tariffs, trade, and intergovernmental cooperation. In his position as the Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade he played a key role in the implementation and expansion of national transportation development initiatives, which included civil aviation. Within this role he was placed in charge of financing a huge project involving SSJ-100 aircraft.

Mr. Saveliev has been highly exposed to various stakeholder audiences both in Russia and CIS as well as multiple European and Asian countries, including Benelux, Ireland, Switzerland, India, China, Australia and Asia Pacific countries.

Mr. Saveliev was thus well-prepared to lead Aeroflot through the numerous challenges facing both the Russian and the wider global aviation market. As a board member of several intergovernmental bodies he has been involved in decision-making for a variety of issues concerning aviation. These include aircraft manufacturing and certification, research and development support for avionics, and the unification of air traffic control equipment. He balances his understanding of the aviation market and his wide-ranging managerial experience with an eagerness to influence the Russian aviation sector in line with IATA’s global efforts and initiatives.