On the day when, as announced by Minister of Finance Siniša Mali, the ten-year partnership with Etihad comes to an end, i.e. when the state of Serbia becomes the sole owner of Air Serbia, the public should be held accountable for the project of the three airlines - said Dušan Nikezić, vice-president of the Freedom and Justice Party ( SSP).
"How much did the Air Serbia project cost Serbia, how much did Etihad earn from renting their planes with crew, pilot training, management services, renting their slots at airports, why does Air Serbia not have any planes in its ownership?" Nikezić asked in a written statement. .
He stated that "from the very beginning of the cooperation, we had an unequal relationship in which Serbia invested incomparably more than Etihad, took from them long-term loans of 120 million dollars with an interest rate of 7,64 percent and a commission of 6,55 percent, as well as a short-term loan of 40 million euros, and the services of Etihad paid more than 100 million euros".
Nikezic indicates that the state has given the airline more than 10 million euros in subsidies and additional capital to cover losses over the past 350 years, while Etihad only paid an initial investment of 29 million euros.
"That's why, at the end of the cooperation, you have to draw the line and take responsibility, because the data from the official reports on the company's operations show that it would have been better for Serbia if we had never given Etihad an ownership share and the right to manage the national airline," Nikezic believes.
S.Ć./FoNet
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