Mali: We will not allow Air Serbia to fail

He stressed that the state would help its national airline by covering losses suffered during the 19-year kovida pandemic.

In a statement to Tanjug, Finance Minister Sinia Mali emphasized that the country would help its airline in the same way as all other European countries.

“The EU said very precisely: you can help your airline like other EU countries do, but only to cover losses caused by the corona virus or the pandemic,” Mali said.

It explains that according to EU regulations, the state has no right to help Air Serbia and that it has not done so due to the EU directives on EU state aid, but can now do so under certain conditions.

That is why the Serbian government has approved an assistance decree similar to decrees approved by other EU countries, the minister added.

“So some people get smart and say that we will cover all the losses. Well, there are no losses from the previous period, but only from this period,” Mali stressed.

He recalls that the aviation industry suffers the greatest losses from the pandemic and the inability to travel, and states that, for example, the German government gave Lufthansa a total support of nine billion euros, of which six billion for recapitalization and three billion euros for new loans, and the French government seven billion. aid in euros to Air France.

He points out that everything in Serbia is under the very strict control of European Commission regulators, who control all kinds of state aid, regardless of whether it is Air Serbia or sometimes a steel mill or some other public company.

“So we are very precise and we have a very well defined regulation, identical to the one that exists in the EU. The state of Serbia does not do anything different or more than what other European countries do according to the regulations they have,” said the Minister of Estate.

Remember that when the pandemic started it meant a lot that we had our own airline, because with it we managed to bring back our citizens who were all over the world and we delivered the necessary medical equipment and funds.

“If we did not have our national airline and if we depended on others, the question is whether we would have found that equipment, medicines and everything that was necessary,” Mali told Tanjug.

That is why we will not allow our national airline to fail, Mali said.

“I would also like to remind the Fiscal Council and our citizens that Air Serbia has had positive results from the moment we entered into a joint partnership with Etihad and that it has not lost. The positive business was until early this year,” said the minister .

He emphasized that everything related to Air Serbia is public and transparent.

“And the answer to any criticism is: Yes, we will help Air Serbia. That company is also going through a restructuring process: reducing salaries and the number of employees with severance pay, abolishing certain unprofitable lines … So It’s not about we’re helping them blank, so now it doesn’t matter how or how. No, they’re already doing their part of the job like other airlines in the world, “Mali said.

This means, added the minister, that Air Serbia is adjusting its way of doing business and the number of employees to the current situation, and that the state is there to help its airline survive this crisis and then return to the path of success. I had until the pandemic.