State to return debts of Jat Airways

The national airliner officially ended year 2009 with the debt of 25m EUR. The list of creditors does not include the state, which should be returned the loan of 8,364,000 EUR that it gave to Jat Airways on February 5, 2009. The obligations towards the Flight Control Agency grew from 10m to about 12m EUR. The debt to Belgrade's airport Nikola Tesla grew from 5m to 9m EUR. The national airliner owes 5m EUR for parts and the same amount of money to other suppliers. Judging by the announcements of Prime Minister Mirko Cvetković, Jat is not threatened by bankruptcy.

As Cvetković explained, the state is thinking about taking over the debts of the national air transportation company and the costs of decrease in number of employees. In that way, it will be easier for Jat to find a strategic partner. Part of the obligations will be reduced because the Flight Control Agency will take over the Pilot Academy in Vršac from Jat.

- Situation in Jat is difficult - says the Prime Minister.

- The Government plans to announced the tender next month for sale of the majority share in Jat, and the model of sale should be similar to the one applied to the sale of Greek airliner Olimpic Airlines. According to that model, new company would be formed to take over the activities of the existing company, while the Government would take over the costs of dismissal of workers and the debts. By the way, Turkish national airliner Turkish Airlines is one of several possible buyers of the share in Jat.

According to the EU regulations, which are included in the Agreement on Open European Sky, one of the signatories of which is Serbia, the state can not help the national airliner directly. Serbian Parliament, as well as the majority of the EU members, ratified the Agreement and it is being applied, the proof of which are numerous licenses issued to foreign airliners that now fly from Belgrade. However, Serbia is not a member of the EU and the Agreement has not been ratified by another three parliements of European countries. Officially, therefore, this document has not become effective yet, which gives Serbia the space to react and rescue the national airliner, which is, in the expert opinion, necessary for every state regardless of the ownership structure.