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Official Beijing is interested in having one of China’s three largest state airlines buy a bundle of Etihad shares in Air Serbia, Danas has learned from well-informed sources close to the Serbian government.
Photo: FoNet / Cabinet of Minister Slobodan MiljevicThe Chinese want to strengthen their position as major investors in Serbia by buying a 49% stake in the former JAT (after the acquisition of Zelezara Smederevo and RTB Bor) and thus enter the European aviation market through the “small door “.
To that end, the Beijing official has already informed the Serbian government that it is ready for one of the Chinese state-owned companies to take over a long-troubled Etihad-controlled stock package, so it is speculates that he wants to leave Air Serbia. that operates negatively.
– Undoubtedly, the State of Serbia would benefit from a large Chinese airline becoming the owner and, therefore, taking over the management of Air Serbia. Consequently, the Government of Serbia would have no objection to Etihad selling its shares to a Chinese company. However, there is a dilemma in the Government as to whether, as the majority owner of Air Serbia, to consent to such a decision, that is, to accept the Chinese company as a new partner, because there is a fear that Brussels will react negatively to that – affirms our interlocutor.
It is known that the European Union is very skeptical about any Chinese investment in the countries of the “old continent” because it sees the expansionist policy of Beijing in that and considers that the companies of that country are prone to unfair competition and violation of the rules. of the market according to the economy of the EU member states.
Brussels also expects such a policy towards Chinese investments from its partners, such as Serbia, which wants to become a member of the EU.
That is exactly the reason why, as Danas finds out, the Serbian government did not give a positive response to Beijing’s proposal, nor did it make that information public.
On the other hand, the Serbian authorities face Etihad’s eventual departure from Air Serbia like a “sword over their heads”.
In that case, the government would be left without a partner in Air Serbia, and the current government is not ready to run that company as a state-owned company.
In other words, Air Serbia is a drag on the state when it was at least partially liberated by entering into relations with Etihad.
But should the company leave the Emirate, the state will face a difficult choice, accept Beijing’s offer and resent Brussels, or Air Serbia will be left without a business partner, which would probably be the end of that company, but also a major inconvenience for the Serbian government. .
Yesterday, we tried to get a comment from the Government of Serbia, the ministries of economy, finance and transport, as well as Air Serbia, but no one answered the questions until the conclusion of this issue.
We contacted Etihad and the authorities of the Chinese authorities, but also, at least for now, we were left with no response.
By the way, China owns three powerful airlines. They are Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines.
All three companies operate international flights and are among the largest airlines in the world.
Excellent relations between China and the UAE
Earlier this year, it was officially announced that, in addition to selling 38 aircraft, Etihad intends to solve its financial problems by reducing or completely canceling cooperation with the airlines in which it is a partner. By the way, the United Arab Emirates and China have excellent diplomatic relations, and proof of this is that a few days ago, the Ministry of Health of that country approved the use of the corona virus vaccine from the Chinese company Sinofarm. Consequently, there is a real possibility that Etihad, if it sells its stake in Air Serbia, will decide that the buyer is the Chinese airline.
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