Page 51 - bne monthly magazine October 2022

bne October 2022 Southeast Europe I 51
Blue Air has been under pre-insolvency procedures since July 2020 and is seek- ing a capital injection from investors. The company blames its financial problems on the Consumer Protec- tion Agency (ANPC), which, recently slapped a €2mn fine on Blue Air for
the huge amount of flights cancelled
airline reported its 13th consecutive year in the red, with the result admittedly affected by the pandemic and slump
in international travel. That came after at the end of 2020, the government approved the 2021-2022 restructuring plan for the airline, pending European Commission approval.
tourism-dependent country’s air sector didn’t end there.
In February, bankruptcy managers
of Montenegro Airlines filed a claim against the directors of Air Montenegro, accusing them of causing millions
of euros of damage to the bankrupt airline. Air Montenegro posted a net
loss of €4.96mn in its first year of operations, saying it was expected given the investments made during the year. However, Nebojsa Medojevic of the opposition Democratic Front said the company should be investigated over the loss, which he blamed on a combination of a crime and lack of expertise.
Major airlines rush in
As Bernstein analysts forecast to Bloomberg, major airlines are already eyeing an additional presence in the Romanian market. They pointed out that the strongest players in the region, Ryanair and WizzAir, had the potential to quickly allocate resources to newly vacated routes.
Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air, already the market leader in Romania by the number of passengers carried, has announced another expansion of its operations in the country.
Ryanair has also seized the opportunity and launched a preferential offer
to Blue Air customers that book a replacement flight by September 9.
“On September 6, Blue Air announced that its bank accounts had been seized by the Ministry of Environment, and it would halt flights from Romanian airports”
over the past year and its failure to properly compensate its customers. This prompted a public spat between the head of the ANPC, Horia Constan- tinescu, and the airline, which Blue Air claimed had blocked discussions held in London with interested investors.
A statement from Blue Air on its plans is imminent, but it’s unclear to what extent it will be able to resume flights. As the company has pointed out, its €230mn debt is roughly the size of half its annual revenues. However, from 13 aircraft operated now (compared to 32 in 2019), the company will be left with only five by the end of the year.
Nor Romanian flag carrier Taron been immune to difficulties. In 2021, the
Other Southeast European airlines struggling
Airlines from some other Southeast European countries have also been struggling.
Moldovan flag carrier Air Moldova was involved in a high-profile scandal in February 2021, when the High Court in Ireland ordered an Air Moldova Airbus A319 passenger jet not to leave Dublin airport, because of an award of €4.2mn in favour of Romanian company Just-US Air.
Montenegro got a new air carrier, Air Montenegro, after the bankruptcy
of the country’s previous flag carrier Montenegro Airlines, which had been one of its top corporate debtors for years. However, the troubles of the small,
Amid global energy crisis Balkan states reach out to energy-rich Azerbaijan
Fuad Shahbazov in Durham
With the deepening energy crisis in the West triggered by Rus- sia's intervention in Ukraine, more European countries, mainly Eastern European and Balkan countries, including Bulgaria and Serbia, are eye- ing alternative suppliers for additional natural gas volumes. The security cataclysms in Europe in the light of the
war have pushed European countries to seek partners such as Azerbaijan.
Since 2022, Azerbaijan has held several high-level meetings with EU officials regarding exporting additional gas volumes to Europe. It is noteworthy that non-EU countries like Serbia are also keen on deepening energy partnerships
with Azerbaijan. Serbia's willingness
to acquire more Azeri gas depends on the construction progress of the EU- supported Serbia-Bulgaria gas intercon- nector – a 171 km natural gas intercon- nector that will connect Nis (Serbia) and Sofia (Bulgaria), thus supporting regional energy security. According to reports, the interconnector may become
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