Taavi Aas: Nordica support will hopefully be solved in June
Minister of Economic Affairs and Infrastructure Taavi Aas (Center) said he hopes that the final decision regarding state support for state-owned airline Nordica will be made by the end of June.
In April, the government decided to increase their share capital of Nordica by €30 million, but funding for the increase has not yet been allocated. Erki Urva, head of Nordica, has called the situation frustrating and added that the required business plan for the investment has been drawn up.
"Nordica has been involved in the process. The question was in drawing up the business plan, now it has already been reviewed by an independent expert. In accordance to the plan, we have now made the decision that we will indeed apply for state aid, just in case," minister Aas said.
"What accompanied that was the decision, of on what grounds will we go to the state for financial aid, but that decision has been made and we will indeed ask for aid. I believe we will finish the process sometime in June," Aas added.
Aas said he is optimistic because due to the pandemic these applications tend to be solved quickly. He hopes that the situation is solved by the end of June.
Answering a question about if this is the last allocation of funds to the company, Aas said the government will take into account that the current business plan for Nordica does not state further aid.
On April 24, ERR News wrote about the increase in share capital.
According to Aas, the increase of share capital in state-owned companies is primarily intended to get out of the crisis as strongly as possible. "With an additional budget, we are encouraging state-owned companies to have operational air, ship and railway routes in the future," Aas added.
"The government also has high expectations for Nordica. In addition to the new business model, Nordica must provide as many direct routes as possible to important destinations in Europe," Aas emphasized.
The government also increased their shares in state-owned rail track operator Eesti Raudtee and regional port operator Saarte Liinid by €10 million and €3 million respectively,
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Editor: Kristjan Kallaste