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| Croatian government aims to exit majority ownership in Croatia Airlines |
The Croatian government plans to sell a majority stake in Croatia Airlines, as the carrier’s privatisation process continues. The Croatian Minister for Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Siniša Hajdaš Dončić, said, “The World Bank is our consultant and we are looking for the best possible solution, whether it be recapitalisation or privatisation. We are interested in the survival of Croatia Airlines, in keeping the name, but the state wants to gradually withdraw from majority to minority ownership in the company. Without a foreign partner, Croatia Airlines is not likely to survive on the market”. The IFC, a World Bank subsidiary, is expected to identify potential investors for Croatia Airlines by the end of October.
The Croatian government foresees for a company from the European Union to acquire a majority stake in Croatia Airlines but those from outside the bloc will be limited to a 49% share, in line with EU legislation. Last week, the Croatian Prime Minister held talks with Japan Airlines (JAL) in Tokyo, presenting the carrier with business opportunities in his country. In the past, several airlines from Asia, including Garuda Indonesia and Hainan Airlines, expressed interest in purchasing a stake in Croatia Airlines. Carriers from the Far East rarely participate in public tenders and equity investments are a result of negotiations. JAL is the second largest airline in Japan and is a member of the Oneworld alliance.
The CEO of Croatia Airlines, Krešimir Kučko, has once again reiterated that the carrier should be recapitalised, rather than sold. “For quicker growth and a return to the position we once held, but lost due to restructuring imposed by the EU, fresh capital is certainly welcome and it should come through recapitalisation”. He added, “If we are to go at it alone, we will develop as well, but it will be at a somewhat slower pace”. With its restructuring process, which has limited the airline’s opportunity for growth, to be completed by the end of 2015, Mr. Kučko believes next year will be one of development and expansion. “Next year we can create a network which is best for the carrier. We will no longer have any restrictions”, Mr. Kučko concludes.
So they are selling majority stakes in Adria and in Croatia Airlines at the same time. I think one will get a partner but it is difficult both at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI think it's quite opposite - together, chances re bigger, because market is bigger, means more passsengers, more cargo, more.money. Furthermore, I think it should be not only Adria and Croatia, but BH and Montenegro as well, so all 4 to be bought by one big player and make one solid airline out of four, with big investment. Legislation is EU, no matter whether countries are EU memebrs already or not, so that shouldn't be the problem. Let me remind you that there were some porposals like this about a year or two ago by some leading people of EU aviation. Maybie it's time for that now. And of course, if it happens, Serbia will remain outside the story, beacuse meanwhile the deal with Etihad already came into effect.
DeleteI agree that together this market would have a great chance. What I meant was that selling these two airlines at exactly the same time individually (like they are doing) won't have a great chance of succeeding. I mean one probably will, the other won't.
DeleteThis might be getting a bit off track but I think ex-yu airlines should take note of B&H's imminent collapse. I know that they were hardly noticeable before but now is the time to get into Sarajevo before Wizz Air does. Croatia Airlines probably has the most chances since they have their own employee running the airport but they can't until January, so maybe an opening for someone else? Air Serbia won't because they have some sort of a hub model but Adria could do the same it did with Pristina or Lodz. The only problem is that Adria is nowhere near as great (in terms of finances and stability) as people think.
What was the big announcment about Croatia Airlines someone mentioned last week which we were supposed to find out this week?
ReplyDeleteHe said in a few weeks, not this week!
Deleteoh ok sorry. Misread it. Hoping for the best :)
DeleteWell I'm getting a feeling something is cooking. Any hints wha it might be?
DeleteMain news about possible external buyer for Croatia Airlines, side news about RwandAir expansion. Coincidence?
Delete+1
DeleteThat's the partner they deserve.
maybe one of the partners is on that photo ;-)
ReplyDeleteHighly doubt it. Unfortunately it will probably be pension and investment funds for both.
DeleteYou see how far back our airlines have fallen when you read on the left that Rwanda Air has ordered two A330s and has two Dreamliners on order.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteSvaka cast WB imaju bolju flotu i imace je nego EX YU aviokompanije jos jedan dokaz da velicina kompanije nije bitna i da ipak moze da se ima A330 na tako maloj floti kao sto ce i ASL imati.
DeleteINN-NS
How dare you something like this? You obviously don't visit this blog often and you don't know the guy named INN-NS. If you knew him, you would know that A330's is already in JU's fleet, flying to China, there are pilots on training for A330, and new flights to North America are just about to start :) :) :)
Deletecorrection : dare you saying something like this
DeleteAdmin, molim Vas obrišite inn ns komentar. Ovaj članak nema nikakve veze biti sa Air Serbijom niti sa njenom flotom.
Delete@1:52 PM
DeleteNapisao bi nesto vrlo rado ali necu da ljutim admina.
INN-NS
Why does everyone seem so surprised that RwandAir got themselves long-haul equipment? They have a lot of premium business traffic and their core market is in Belgium, i.e. their ex-colonial masters who have left a plethora of business and cultural ties. The situation is entirely incomparable with any of the Balkan airlines.
DeleteEurope is a mature market with very high competition on longhaul. Hard for JU to break into the market when there are a half dozen hubs around the corner and yields are extremely tight.
Delete+1
ReplyDeleteI get the appeal of Croatia Airlines - tourist country, solid domestic travel, diaspora. But I don't see what's Adria got going for it - small market, well covered by others, little to no diaspora travel... the only plus I see is the brand.
ReplyDeleteIf there were interested parties Croatia Airlines would have been sold by now. Unless the government is waiting for some grand announcement before the elections to improve their result but I doubt it. They don't even know what they want. It started off as a privatization now they are thinking of recapitalization.
ReplyDeleteI'm more interested in seeing what they are planning for next year. Something tells me they might lease Montenegro Airlines' embraer. They said they will start flights to Eastern Europe and first to Eastern European countries in the EU. So my guess is Warsaw. It seems to be a trend.
ReplyDeleteCroatia Airlines Privatization Fail
ReplyDeleteWhy is it necessary to report every few weeks that Croatia Airlines wishes for someonw to buy them? We all know this. When and if it happens report on it, until then tišina. A better story would have been to report on SkyGreece flight. No offence to admin, just my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteIf you have been visiting recently, you would have found news on SkyGreece's inaugural flights on Tuesday
Deletehttp://www.exyuaviation.com/p/skygreece-inaugurates-toronto-zagreb.html
As well as a report on the airline's sales and plans in the region, in an interview given by SkyGreece's Regional Manager for EX-YU Aviation News last week
http://www.exyuaviation.com/2015/06/skygreece-evaluating-possible-regional.html
The last time there was news on Croatia Airlines' privatisation process was on June 9. Similarly, Jat's privatisation process was also reported and followed closely.
I hear what you are saying but it just seems that there is nothing new to report on CAs privatitation process. I mean what has changed in the last three weeks? I truly appreciate your efforts with this blog and read it daily. Thanks
DeleteApart from the fact that the minister has, for the first time, given an indication as to the amount of shares the government plans to sell in the airline, he also confirmed that the carrier could be recapitalised as well, which was seen as an option being pushed solely by the CEO so far. Furthermore, the Croatian PM has held talks with Japan Airlines.
DeleteKeep in mind that news items are published here daily and that on top of that there are news flash items as well (one each work day during the summer and two each work day during the rest of the year). At the same time, this is a relatively small region. As a result, sometimes, especially during the summer, there might be smaller updates on the development of some processes. Topics and subject areas which are covered more widely and often than others are done so because there is greater interest in them from readers based on the amount of clicks and readership a certain news item gets. Surprisingly, the amount of comments a news item gets is rarely an indication of whether that news is popular with readers or not.
Since news is updated daily, I think there is enough content to interest those that might not be interested in the main article today. In that case, I'm sure there will be news which will interest you either tomorrow or on Sunday or Monday.
+1 for the Anonymous, i also had the impression of reading a recycled article.
DeleteKome se nesvidja nemora da cita ili pisite vi ovde o necemu sto vas zanima .
DeleteSramota vi ste ovde samo gosti i jos zapovedate.
INN-NS
Really ungrateful and shameful group of people. Most aviation websites now charge to read news - ch aviation, flight global! You get it for free each day. Amazing the odasity of some people. If it was news about Air Serbia there would have been a party. The first guy complains how there is no news about sky greece then gets smacked with two articles about it in seven days and then conveniently ignores that fact. Hope you are proud man
DeleteThe big difference is that unlike for Jat Airways we all know this privatisation is never going to happen, making the frequent news about it even more senseless. It's like heating an empty pan.
DeleteThe admin clearly said that the market is not big enough to have fresh news every single day. If you find the article for that day unappealing just don't read it and look at the comments or wait for the one the next day.
DeleteI thought the admin encourages comments, yes even critical comments.
DeleteAnon 4.14 well said, I sign your comment!
Delete@4:28
DeleteAj'molim te kazi mi gde si kupio kristalnu kuglu iz koje citas da "this privatisation is never going to happen"?
Mislim, da znam da kazem ako me neko pita zbog reklamacije, nakon sto se privatizacija dogodi do kraja godine
Ot: (nothing to do with what happened today in Tunis)
ReplyDeleteTunisair is a new operator of two A330-200 planes. First one was delivered new by Airbus about two weeks ago. Tunisair planned to start flights to Montreal in October. Flights to Montreal have now been postponed to next summer because of Transport Canada ETOPS recommendations. Before going to Canada, Tunisair will get more experience with new A330 flying to destinations like Paris, Instanbul and Dubai.
Istanbul
DeleteDoes this mean Air Serbia should get A330 now and fly to existing destinations so they can get experience for ETOPS flight to Canada and the USA next summer?
DeleteWhat puzzles me about Tunisia is that some people still go there after the terrorist attack on the museum 2-3 months ago. Even after this, we will see a bunch of new tourists coming in and behave like nothing happened. Should we expect charter cancellations from the region or will it be business as usual?
DeleteI don't get it with OU ... the CEO says that they can go it alone if necessary while the minister says that without a partner, they will fail. So which is it ????
ReplyDeleteI think nobody knows
DeleteBEG airport is paying 2014 dividends to shareholders, I meant the state. The other shareholders, including the citizens who got 1 free share of the Belgrade airport, will have to wait until November 30 most likely. I've never seen this happen in other countries... there should be no prioritization, but all shareholders should be treated equally. Or maybe the airport just doesn't have the money to pay them... Anyway, the stock is down to 1265 today on extremely low turnover (~2000 euros) from a high of over 1400 just a few weeks ago.
ReplyDeleteMore info: http://www.belex.rs/data/2015/06/00094757.pdf (in Serbian only)
Stock is lower because PM talked about concession by June but nothing happened. There are no investors in sight --> stock tanks.
DeleteStock is lower because the airport is not getting paid by Air Serbia, simple as that.
DeleteIt has nothing to do with any payments from anyone.
DeleteIf VINCI or another investor announces tomorrow they are in the final stages of negotiations with Belgrade airport, stock will rise sharply.