The original airfield was constructed to protect Russia's Black Sea coast during World War II; construction took place between 8 July and 1 September 1941, on the site of the liquidated state seed farm "Chernomorets". By order of the Chief of the Office of Civil Aviation, the site became an established airport on 23 November 1945. In 1956, the first terminal building (now the old building) and the airstrip runway-1 were built. Approximately 35,000 passengers and 1000 tons of cargo passed through the airport in 1957. From 1960 to 1965, passenger and baggage halls, a 200-room hotel, radio navigation and landing systems were all added to the airport as passenger traffic constantly increased. The Order of the Red Banner of Labor was awarded to the airport in August 1966 for its high performance. . Passenger traffic went from 902,000 embarkations in 1965 to more than 2.3 million in 1990. From its opening in 1957 to today, the airport has served more than 60 million passengers. Regularly scheduled international departures and arrivals began in 1981; the original destinations were Bratislava, Budapest, and Prague. The airport later expanded to include flights to the Middle East and Western Europe. The international section of Sochi's terminal is small, but it includes a duty-free shop. President Vladimir Putin removed Sochi International Airport from the list of strategic enterprises on 3 May 2006 (Decree No.456), superseding its previous status under Decree No.1009 of 4 August 2004. Sochi International Airport was privatized in 2006 after Federal Property Fund held an auction to sell 100% shares of the airport. "Strategy-South", a company affiliated with Basic Element group (until 2001 – "Siberian Aluminum") won an auction to acquire the airport for 5.5 billion rubles. The airport in Sochi became the fourth airport in southern Russia. among the ones in Krasnodar, Anapa and Gelendzhik, operated by the Russian Asian Investment Company (RAInKo, owned by Oleg Deripaska) and "Airports of South". In 2007, Basic Element group established Basel Aero, a holding company that runs its airport business and operates all four airports. Sochi International Airport which was under renovation, opened its doors to first passengers in 2010. It was further upgraded to meet the requirements of the International Olympic Committee as the gateway of the 22nd Olympic Winter Games. Basic Element, together with Russia's largest bank Sberbank and Changi Airports International, operator of the Singapore airport, established a joint venture to manage airports in Krasnodar region in 2012. Under the agreement, Basic Element has 50% plus one share in the JV, Sberbank's stake is 20% minus one share while Changi Airports International holds 30%. In 2007–2013, Basic Element spent over 14 billion rubles ($410 million) on the airport's renovation. A modernized airport's building features a 65,000-sq.m terminal with an advanced 450-m long boarding gallery adjacent to the airport, 10 boarding bridges ensuring a comfortable access to the aircraft, a 4,000-sq.m VIP Terminal with the handling capacity of 80 passengers per hour that hosted IOC delegates and other high-profile guests at the Winter Olympics. In charge of these extensive Sochi projects, including the airport renovation, was Andrey Elinson, Deputy CEO of Basic Element. For his contribution to the construction of air transport infrastructure facilities, Elinson was awarded the national Order of Friendship and the state medal 'For the Construction of Transport Facilities'. New Zealand minted coins in 2010 as part of the 'Olympic capitals' collection, and placed a picture of a plane taking off from the Sochi airport on the "tails" of a new silver dollar coin.