State plane company to change selling strategy after negotiations with Alenia Aeronautica failed

Vineri, 31 iulie 2009, 13:59 English | Business

The Romanian Authority for State Assets Recovery (AVAS) will change the selling strategy for plane company Avioane Craiova after the deadline for turning it into a private company has expired. Alenia Aeronautica was the only company to make an offer, but the negotiations failed. After talks with the representatives of the European Commission, AVAS announced a new selling strategy will be launched "in a regime of maximum urgency".

The new strategy will feature a request for state aid, if the approach will be approved by the European Commission, according to an AVAS communiqué. The expiry date for Aviaone Craiova's offer expired on Friday, without Alenia Aeronautica and AVAS coming to an agreement to finalise the transaction.

AVAS representatives say that one of the requests mentioned in the final offer Alenia Aeronautica made could not be fulfilled since it was outside the legal framework. The request referred to a possible cancelling of the Romanian state's debts, plus the Romanian state was also to support the cost of making the staff redundant. AVAS says such measure need to be included in the company's portfolio for all interested companies to see. Additionally, such steps need to be authorised by the European Commission, the communiqué adds.

AVAS is responsible for continuing Avioane Craiova's selling process, on behalf of the Romanian Ministry of Economy. The new deadline is October 14, 2009.