[2] He was previously Minister of Transport from November 2020 until May 2024[3] and he served as the chairman and CEO of Aeroflot, Russia's largest airline, from 2009 to 2020.

In 2010, Russian president Vladimir Putin tasked Vitaly Savelyev to transform Aeroflot in Russia's first full-fledged airline group.

[8] In 2013, he made Aeroflot the main sponsor of the UK soccer team Manchester United.

[8] In 2018, the US added Vitaly Saveley in its "Kremlin List", not a sanction, rather a way to identify Russia's top economic agents.

[11] In May 2022 the United States Department of the Treasury placed sanctions on him pursuant to Executive Order 14024 as a member of the Government of Russia.