The Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić announced that the state will invest significant funds into Air Serbia, which he noted has been hit hard by the pandemic.
The airline has been restricted from operating commercial flights since 20 March. Under the plan, Serbia will resort to an array of measures.
“We will significantly help the pillars of our economy amongst which is Air Serbia. There are no longer any state aid restrictions. We wanted to invest more money into Air Serbia prior to this crisis but couldn’t because of European Union regulations. None of that is relevant anymore”, Vučić said.
Commenting further on plans to aid the state carrier, the President noted, “We will either recapitalise the company or use another method such as corporate bonds. There will be no issues”.
Recapitalisation entails changes to the airline’s capital. This may occur, for instance, when a creditor exchanges a loan for a stake but does not require changes to the company’s management structure.
Air Serbia was already earmarked for state subsidies this year even prior to the coronavirus crisis.