Russian Billionaire Alexander Lebedev Nominates Baby Son to Aeroflot Board

Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev has nominated his baby son to the board of directors of Russia's flagship airline Aeroflot.

Born in November 2011, Egor Lebedev, is among 14 nominees put forward by the carrier's shareholders to join Aeroflot's board of directors.

"The moral behind this quip is the following," Lebedev, who owns British newspapers The Independent and The Evening Standard tweeted. "If state companies' board of directors have no real power what's the point of putting adult people in there."

Egor's candidacy was proposed by the National Reserve Bank, which is owned by his 53-year-old father, alongside that of the bank's CEO, Andrey Manoylo, and the director of macroeconomic research at Higher School of Economics, Sergey Aleksashenko.

Aeroflot shareholders will chose 11 of the 14 candidates on 24 June.

Lebedev, who holds a 5 percent stake in Aeroflot, has nominated one of his children to the board of directors before.

In 2009 he proposed another son Nikita for the prestigious seat. Nikita was only three months old at the time.

"The idea is very good; I think his son will probably be less capricious than his father. I'd support this idea," the company's general director Vitaly Saveliev said.

The stunt is part of Lebedev's struggles with the Kremlin. The billionaire is at odds with President Vladimir Putin, of whom he is an outspoken critic.

Lebedev is on trial in Moscow for punching a fellow guest during a television chat show. He faces up to five years in jail if convicted.

Charged with hooliganism, Lebedev described the prosecution as a political witch-hunt.

Forbes magazine has estimated Lebedev's fortune at $1.1bn (£700m).