NEWS FLASH
The Kranj District Court in Slovenia has scheduled the main hearing against Arno Schuster and Holger Kowarsch, the former CEOs of the now-bankrupt Adria Airways, for July 12 after no settlement was reached in a preliminary hearing last week. Both sides were requested to provide additional evidence within thirty days. Mr Schuster and Mr Kowarsch led Adria after the German fund 4K Invest bought the carrier in 2016. The two were also partners at 4K Invest. They are both accused of financially draining the airline and are being sued for 78 million euros in what has become the largest compensation claim in Slovenia’s history. When Adria declared bankruptcy in October 2019, it owed tens of millions of euros to its suppliers, leasing companies, airports, airlines, employees, and other creditors. The lawyers hired by official receiver, Janez Pustatičnik, studied the forensic audit of Adria and found that managers had violated insolvency legislation. While knowing Adria was insolvent, they did not request for owner 4K Invest to supply the airline with fresh capital as promised nor declare bankruptcy. Instead, they are alleged to have addressed Adria's financial issues with "problematic bookkeeping tricks".
If Slovenia would be smart back in 2016, they would join Airport Ljubljana with Adria Airways under one company. Airport Lju would cover losses of Adria (which would ensure the connectivity Slovenia needs/deserves) and that would be it.
ReplyDeleteSad to see how they sold it to a no name company and seemingly don't take any blame for it now
Maks, is that you?
DeleteEx-Yu socialism at its best: let the profitable guy subsidize the lossmaking one until they both become insolvent.
DeleteMoreover, let the infrastructure provider and the service provider have the same ownership, so that other service providers can be discriminated for the use of infrastructure!
DeleteHow brilliant brains do we have here, amazing :)
Anons 11:00 and 11:42 +100000 Couldn’t agree more!
DeleteSo, we have socialism at its best in Luxemburg.
Delete@11:00 we can see how EU/German capitalism worked out for LJU and Adria right? LJU is owned by German Fraport and their connectivity purposfuly limited while Adria was bought by Germans and destroyed on purpose.
DeleteAdria and Ljubljana were successful and doing well before german involvment.
If they launch and new airline in Slovenia, even if they had the Abu Dhabi investment authiority personally funded it. it still wouldnt be successul due to Fraport trying to kill it off.
Adria was successful before German involvement? In what world?
DeleteDid it not require a massive recapitalisation in 2010, where part of @10:39 plan was put in force - the airport bought the maintenance unit, hangars, etc. And then it needed another injection of €3m for 4K to even buy it, because otherwise it would have gone bust right then and there.
It was a financial blackhole. Sure, connectivity in LJU was slightly better, but I wouldn't call Adria a success story.
Miss Adria :(
ReplyDeleteDon't forget, current Minister of Infrastructure is the same as the one who sold Adria to a suspicious fund 8 years ago
ReplyDeleteThey have impunity and keep coming back to steal from us in Slovenia. Getting in the EU just made it more sophisticated.
DeleteShe didn't sell Adria, neither agree with the selection of buyer. The team selling Adria was: predsednik vlade / dr. Miro Cerar
Deleteminister za gospodarstvo / Zdravko Počivalšek
ministrica za finance / Mateja Vraničar Erman
minister za infrastrukturo / Peter Gašperšič
predsednik uprave SDH / Marko Jazbec
However, she sold LJU airport to Fraport, which was not smart move as well.
I hope also pre-last management of the company will get investigated.
Delete@13:46, don't spin here... The government under Bratovsek - (her minister for Economy-Cufer) - brought to Parliament a proposal to privatize the list of "national" companies (Telekom, NKBM, Adria, Aerodrom LJU,...). Cerar's government did what it had to do. SDH (SSH=Slovenian Sovereign Holding) selected the buyer and sold it.
DeleteA major argument against 4K is that the liquidation should have been conducted earlier. Adria had several decades of nepotism (with a few pauses), and some executives misled in broad daylight, with the peak at Mufek/Pufek era. Everyone from that time period is covered by these two (4K) guys and they will pay for everyone. In two years, these two screwed up what others tried for 30 years. If they wouldn't, Covid would.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteYou sum it up perfectly.