Chinese Want Air Serbia, EU’s Reaction a Problem?

Source: Danas Wednesday, 16.12.2020. 13:11
Comments
Podeli
(Photo: eKapija)
The official Beijing is interested in having one of the three largest Chinese state airline carriers buy Etihad’s stake in Air Serbia, Danas learns from well-informed sources close to the Government of Serbia.

The daily writes that the Chinese want to strengthen their position of a great investor in Serbia (after the acquisition of Zelezara Smederevo and RTB Bor) through the purchase of a 49% stake in former JAT and thereby “sneak” into the European airline market.

It is said that “to that end, the official Beijing has already notified the Government of Serbia that it is ready for one of the companies owned by the Chinese state to take over the stake controlled by Etihad, which has been having problems for a long time now, which is why there are speculations that it wants to exit the ownership structure of Air Serbia, a company which is operating with losses”.

– It would certainly suit the state of Serbia for a big Chinese airline company to become an owner and thereby practically take over the management of Air Serbia. Accordingly, the Government of Serbia would have no objections to Etihad selling its shares to the Chinese company. However, there’s a dilemma in the government whether to approve this decision as the majority owner of Air Serbia, that is, whether to accept the Chinese company as a new partner, because there’s a fear that Brussels might have a negative response to it – the source of Danas said.


The daily says that “it is known that the European Union is very skeptical toward any kind of Chinese investment in the countries of the ‘Old Continent’, because it is perceived as Beijing’s expansionist policy, and companies from that country are seen as being prone to unfair competition and violation of the market rules that apply in the economies of its member states”.

China owns three powerful airline carriers – Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines.
Comments
Your comment
Full information is available only to commercial users-subscribers and it is necessary to log in.

Forgot your password? Click here HERE

For free test use, click HERE

Follow the news, tenders, grants, legal regulations and reports on our portal.
Registracija na eKapiji vam omogućava pristup potpunim informacijama i dnevnom biltenu
Naš dnevni ekonomski bilten će stizati na vašu mejl adresu krajem svakog radnog dana. Bilteni su personalizovani prema interesovanjima svakog korisnika zasebno, uz konsultacije sa našim ekspertima.