Serbia has extended the deadline for bids for its troubled JAT Airways flag carrier by a month to allow potential investors to make offers.
“The extension until October 31 was made after interested parties sought additional time to better prepare their offers,” the Infrastructure Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry did not elaborate, but Milivoje Mihajlovic, a government spokesman, said several international companies had expressed interest in purchasing JAT Airways.
Serbia had hoped to sell a majority stake in the socialist-era giant to Turkish Airlines but no agreement was reached. A first tender for the sale of a 51 percent stake in JAT, priced at EUR€51 million (USD$73 million), failed in 2008.
Under the terms of the current tender offer, eligible investors, mainly airlines and financial backers with investment in airlines of at least 5 percent, must show a consolidated balance sheet of more than EUR€200 million and the transit of more than 1.5 million passengers in 2010.
Last year, JAT Airways announced a EUR€16.5 million loss for 2009 and borrowed EUR€51.5 million from the government to renew its fleet and prepare for a potential partnership with Turkish Airlines.
Source news.airwise.com
