Official Beijing is interested in one of the three largest Chinese state-owned airlines buying a package of Etihad shares in Air Serbia, Danas has learned from well-informed sources close to the Serbian government.
The paper writes today that the Chinese want to strengthen their position as a large investor in Serbia (after the acquisition of Zelezara Smederevo and RTB Bor) by buying a package of 49% of the shares of the former JAT and thus enter the European aviation market through a “small door”.
It is stated that “for that purpose, official Beijing has already informed the Government of Serbia that it is ready for one of the companies owned by the Chinese state to take over a package of shares controlled by the Etihad, which has been in trouble for a long time, which is why it is speculated that it wants to leave in Air Serbia, a company that operates negatively”.
“It would certainly suit the state of Serbia for a large Chinese airline to become the owner and thus actually take over the management of Air Serbia. Accordingly, the Government of Serbia would have no objections to Etihad selling its shares to a Chinese company. However, there is a dilemma in the Government as to whether to give its consent to such a decision as the majority owner of Air Serbia, ie to accept the Chinese company as a new partner, because there is a fear that Brussels would react negatively to that,” said the interlocutor of Danas.
The paper states that it is known that the European Union is very skeptical about any Chinese investments in the countries of the ‘old continent’ because it sees Beijing’s expansionist policy in that and considers companies from that country prone to unfair competition and violation of market rules.
It is added that Brussels 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 Government of Serbia did not give a positive answer to Beijing’s proposal, nor did it go public with that information.
China owns three powerful airlines, Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines, Danas reports.
