Will Latvia's national airline "airBaltic" be able to manage without a state loan to compensate for rising aviation fuel prices for at least another week?
Amid the prolonged conflict in the Middle East and rising fuel prices, the aviation industry is also feeling the impact, public media reports. In response, Latvia's national airline "airBaltic" has requested a short-term loan of 30 million euros from the Ministry of Transport.
The government unanimously supported it on the last day of March; however, the progress of the issue in the Saeima stalled even before the parliamentary session. Citing a lack of information, the Budget and Finance Commission of the Saeima did not support the request, leaving the "Progressives," who head the Ministry of Transport, perplexed.
"The circumstances were laid out quite clearly here. Therefore, I was confident that after the information was provided and necessary discussions took place in the budget commission, where all facts and figures were voiced, the faction of the Union of Greens and Farmers would still make a balanced and responsible decision. In this case, that did not happen," said the head of the parliamentary faction of the "Progressives," Andris Šuvajev.
The Minister of Economics, Viktors Valainis (ZKS), in turn, noted that he is not satisfied with the current performance of the airline, pointing out, among other things, the unreturned previous loan of 340 million euros and the lack of a new business plan. Valainis expects the company to start fulfilling the tasks set by the government. In his opinion, this situation arose not due to rising fuel prices, but as a result of incorrect decisions made by the company's management.
Prime Minister Evika Siliņa ("New Unity") suggested that Saeima deputies need time and additional information to make a decision. "I also urged airBaltic to provide all additional information to the Ministry of Transport - it is quite normal for deputies to need some time to assess whether they can support this decision with a vote or not," Siliņa noted.
The Saeima Commission will return to consider this issue after the Easter break - on April 14. Until then, the company will continue to operate as usual; currently, there is no crisis, stated the chairman of the airline's board, Andrey Martynov.
