Purchase of Hungarian state airline finalized

The privatisation agency ÁPV signed the sale contract of Malév airlines to the Russian-Hungarian consortium AirBridge on Friday, it was announced at a press conference by Boris Abramovich and Péter Leonov from AirBridge and Malév CEO János Gönci.

AirBridge, owned by Abramovich and Kálmán Kiss, is paying Ft 200 million. AirBridge also agreed to inject €50 million into Malév, beginning with a €20 million transfer immediately after signing the contract. AirBridge will also pay off this year a Ft 13 million Malév loan taken for the purchase of CRJ aircraft.

In addition, AirBridge will issue a €32 million guarantee on a €20 million loan taken by Malév from the state-run Hungarian Development Bank. Under a special construction arranged for the repayment of this loan, the state is founding a new company which will own the Malév brand name, the kerosene pipeline at Ferihegy airport and a Boeing 767-200.

AirBridge will lease these assets and the new company will repay the loan between 2008 and 2018 from the fees received. If AirBridge fails to pay, the new company will call on the guarantee. This solution awaits the approval of the European Commission, the ÁPV added. Abramovich said Malév will make a profit within two years and the number of passengers will rise by 25% annually. As the growth will create jobs, no large layoffs are planned, he added.

The above story is just one of more than two dozen published today by Hungary Around the Clock, the most comprehensive source of daily English-language news about Hungary. For a free trial of HATC, click here. Hungarian news sources include Népszabadság; Magyar Hírlap; Világgazdaság; Napi Gazdaság; Magyar Nemzet; Népszava; Kossuth Rádió news and Hungarian television's nightly news broadcast.

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