Ainārs Šlesers: "The current government cannot solve these problems, the head of Ryanair has already said that airBaltic will not survive until winter, it will go bankrupt. To save this company and resolve the situation, this government must resign!"
What could be the possible continuation of the million-dollar saga of airBaltic — this was discussed in the new pre-election debate program tv24 "Let's Talk Openly" by the chairman of "For the Development of Latvia" Juris Pūce, Riga City Council member, chairman of "Latvia First" Ainārs Šlesers, Saeima member Jānis Vitenbergs (National Alliance), and independent Saeima member Skaidrīte Abrama.
"A decision must be made! Why are Latvian taxpayers subsidizing the development of tourism in Estonia and Lithuania today?" - one of the most vocal participants in the discussion was Ainārs Šlesers. Skaidrīte Abrama clarified that in Lithuania, airBaltic fills only a small part of the market — 15%. "This is nothing," she added and, suggesting possible solutions, reasoned that, in her opinion, it would not be tragic if this airline did not exist. "You say — it is terribly needed for the Latvian economy. I have the impression that the economy of Latvia returns much more to airBaltic than this company brings to the state. There is quite a lot of competition at the airport; an empty space would not remain..."
Vitenbergs emphasized that airBaltic's exit from the market is undesirable, but at the same time doubted that the new head of airBaltic would be able to resolve the situation. "Everyone says there is a new leader with superpowers who will bring a new business plan for how the company should proceed. Now this is impossible! It's like sending him for the golden fleece. Now he will bring nothing!" - said the deputy, quoting an ancient Greek myth. In his opinion, help should be sought from neighbors — the Lithuanians and Estonians. Vitenbergs recounted one case he found suspicious, namely that someone from the Estonian deputies told Latvian media: "It's cool that we have airBaltic flying, but we are not ready to invest, and to be honest, no one has come to us with such an offer. This means that no one even offered the Lithuanians and Estonians! If there is, this offer needs to be refreshed and say: friends, either you participate, or which flights are cut!"
For his part, Juris Pūce, quoting the Latvian folk tale "Go there, unknown where, bring back what, unknown what," noted that the new head of airBaltic has been given exactly such a task — "go there, unknown where, bring back what, unknown what" and that no one from the outside can resolve the situation, and if airBaltic is sunk, it will take many years for the airport to recover. Therefore, in his opinion, the government should take on the task of saving airBaltic. "No investor from the outside will come and give money. They must do everything themselves. It is necessary to restructure everything, refinance debts immediately! Right now the government is engaged in stock market manipulation. What needs to be done now is to take advantage of the situation when creditors are scared and think they will completely lose their money."
Šlesers added to his words: "What I would do: in one day, we would send emails to all creditors, saying that we are declaring bankruptcy, but we would like to negotiate for you to participate in the company's development process. If not, you will get nothing," - Šlesers was sharp in his statements and concluded his remarks equally categorically: "The current government cannot solve these problems, the head of Ryanair has already said that airBaltic will not survive until winter, it will go bankrupt. To save this company and resolve the situation, this government must resign!"
