Estonia's national carrier Nordica says it still plans to claim back a 7.8 million euro loan it made to Adria Airways, which has since depreciated, but gave no timeframe when it would seek repayments, noting it was "no secret" the Slovenian carrier is having financial problems. Nordica, which was set up in late 2015 with the assistance of Adria, ended its partnership with the airline in November 2016 by giving it a 7.8 million euro loan at a contractual interest rate of 15%. For a year following the foundation of Nordica as the successor to bankrupt Estonian Air, Adria was the carrier's most important partner, providing it with a booking system, as well as operational services and staff training.
Upon the completion of the partnership in 2016, a part of Nordica’s liquid assets in Adria were converted into a loan as agreed by both sides. The result was a debt by Adria to Nordica in the form of cash debt converted into a loan. The loan period is six years, however, the Estonian carrier has constantly depreciated its value, which has raised eyebrows with auditors. PricewaterhouseCoopers, which has come under fire over its auditing of Adria's 2018 financial report, has reviewed Nordica's reports in the past, noting that the loan does not corresponded to good financial practice. It said there was insufficient proof of similar interest rates on the market, and hence they hadn’t been able to find sufficient evidence to assess the likelihood of Adria ever paying back the loan.
The Chief Financial Officer of the Nordica Aviation Group, Kristi Ojakaar, told the Estonian daily "Postimees" the company would pursue loan repayments. "We devalued the loan since the probability of a full repayment was small, primarily because of Adria's difficult financial situation, which is no secret. Of course, this is not a gift. Adria paid off part of the debt last year, some 800.000 euros. We will actively continue to engage in claiming the debt", Ms Ojakaar said, but gave no details on the amount that is still owed. Nordica registered a net loss of 5.4 million euros last year, while Adria is expected to post one of its biggest losses to date. The cooperation agreement between Adria and Nordica was expected to last until at least the end of 2017, however, in 2016 the Estonian airline opted to ink a similar deal with LOT Polish Airlines and end its arrangement with Adria.
Those EUR800,000 they gave back to Nordica last year must have had an impact on Adria's finances.
ReplyDeleteIf the loan has depreciated they probably don't have much left to repay.
DeleteWhy did they end the deal with Nordica in the first place?
ReplyDeleteBecause LOT was interested in Nordica at that time. Later both realised it was a mistake. Its interesting to see this "loan" because its not given to Adria but is the value of Nordica's liquid assets. I dont think it should considered the same as a regular loan.
DeleteBut Adria was also interested in Nordica? No?
DeleteHaha you won't get terms on a loan like that anywhere.
ReplyDeleteA dream
DeleteThe deal with Nordica was obviously a sweet one.
ReplyDeleteActually it sounds really murky.
DeleteI wonder why they terminated it.
DeleteIt wasn't terminated by Adria, it was terminated by Nordica.
DeleteBut why?
DeleteI think JP stood no chance the moment Lot approached Nordica. There was no good enough reason for them to chose JP over LO.
DeleteWell now they have been swallowed up by LOT.
DeleteMore and more will those that you owe money to start to pursue repayments before you disappear.
ReplyDeleteYes eventually it will come down like a house of cards.
DeleteBizarre
ReplyDeleteShould also be said that Jan Palmer who was 4K Invest advisor in 2016 lobbied the Estonian government to make a commercial alliance with Adria instead of going with LOT. Problrm is he was also an advisor to Nordica at the same time.
ReplyDeleteAlso Adria's new managing director Sven Kukemelk used to be Nordica's Executive Director for Business Development then CEO of affiliate Regional Jet.
Is it just me or is everyone here interlinked, intertwined and in some sort of conflict of interest??
Delete+1 last anon
DeletePonzi scheme next generation!
DeleteI wouldn't be surprised if it turns out that the Danish maintenance provider Adria chose also does maintenance for Nordica.
DeleteI don't think it is.
DeleteAn airline with nothing but trouble. Not good for a 58 year old airline with so much history...
ReplyDeleteThere really haven't been any positive developments at JP for a long time.
DeleteTelenovela continues...
ReplyDeleteWith no end in sight.
DeleteWhenever things like this come up, I always think how come no one cares about who and what this 4K is. When Etihad got 49% of Air Serbia, people were screaming off the top of their lungs how they wanted to see the contract between Etihad and Air Serbia. What about 4K? Who are they? No one knows anything about them. No one knows who their past or present clients are. Their website certainly does not list them. No one knows who actually owns them. Last time a Slovenian press tried to find out it turned out to be Iranian capital. It's really odd that no one seems to care.
ReplyDelete+1
DeleteWhy should people care? It's a private company now, and they can do whatever they want. Either buy 100 aircraft or close shop tomorrow.
DeleteOfcourse people should care because private or not it is the national airline of Slovenia, which has been supported by tax payers until January 2016. Its the airline that has a huge share at Ljubljana Airport and whose collapse would hit the Slovenian economy. Being a private company does not give you a free pass to act as if you have no responsibilities to the community.
DeleteAnd to add - the least the Slovenian government should have done is clearly state who they sold the company to and under what conditions.
DeleteWhat responsibilities to the community? They do not operate any PSO routes. Airlines are free to compete and operate on a free market.
DeleteAbout supporting economy, if it weren't for protectionism from the government (keeping Adria on life support for decades), we would have seen more foreign carriers in LJU. And they would probably pay their suppliers and service providers on time (fuel, airport charges, ATC services).
I must admit it is odd that Adria is 4Ks only known client. There is no record of them buying any other company or a portfolio of clients on their website.
DeleteWhile past doesn't really matter anymore, present and the future of JP is still important for Slovenian economy and society as a whole.
DeleteAlthough I admit, if JP fails London, AMS, CDG, IST, Moscow and BEG will still be there.
Iranian capital? Is it connected to the NLB
Delete(biggest state owned bank in Slovenia) money laundering of Iranian money?
Evo o 4K iz mog članka:
DeleteZašto se Slovenije odlučila za 4K
Iz odgovora Ministarstva financija Slovenije od 22.2.2016. na zastupničko pitanje o prodaji Adrie Airways kompaniji 4K Invest, a koji je pripremio Slovenski državni holding d.d. (SDH), a koji dokument imam u posjedu, vidljiv je niz interesantnih detalja o prodaji Adrie.
SDH tvrdi da je upit za prodaju Adrie poslan na više od 100 kompanija, da su dobili velik broj ponuda i da su sve ponude tražile participiranje Slovenije u iznosu od 5,6 do 8 milijuna EUR u dokapitalizaciji Adrie. Sve ponude su imale simbolične iznose za kupnju. Ponude su sadržavale i zahtjev za otpisima dugova, odgodama plaćanja, te mogućnostima kreditiranja u neposrednoj budućnosti. SDH tvrdi da je 4K bio jedini investitor koji je ponudio sudjelovanje u dokapitalizaciji (na kraju je omjer dokapitalizacije 4K i Republike Slovenije bio 1:3).
Nažalost SDH, ni Ministarstvo nisu ponudili uvid u navedene „brojne“ ponude, čak nisu ni naveli tko su bili kandidati, tj. ponuđači, pa se ovi podaci ne mogu provjeriti, te su ovi kumulativni podaci upitnog kredibiliteta, posebno u rasponima i nedostatku informacija o kontekstu u kojem su navedeni. Naime, neki ponuđač je možda i tražio veće sudjelovanje u dokapitalizaciji Slovenije, ali je možda dao druge bitno bolje benefite poput garancija širenja mreže i flote, povećanja broja putnika, možda se radi o kvalitetnim avio-kompanijama a ne investitoru koji do tada nije imao ni jedno jedino iskustvo u akvizicijama u zrakoplovnim kompanijama, definiranje perioda u kojem Adria ne može ići u bankrot isl.
4K je vrlo mlada kompanija. Osim gorenje spomenutog primjera likvidacije finskog trgovačkog lanca Anttila, kompanija je nakon dvije godine prodala njemačku elektroničku kompaniju Periscope kompaniji Cemtrex, preuzela je proizvođača poliesterskih proizvoda TWD Fibers, kemijsku kompaniju Alz Chem, te još nekoliko manjih kompanija. 4K je kupila i preprodala Adler (trgovina tekstilom), Woolworth (trgovina tekstilom), Rohner (kemijska industrija), skw (kemijska industrija), Goldgas (prodaja plina), Zielpunkt (trgovac hranom na malo), Versatel (telekomunikacije) idr. 4K se prije Adrie nije bavio avio-businessom, a što je vidljivo i u poslovanju Adrie. Radi ozbiljne početničke greške i vidljivo je da nemaju iskustva u ovom specifičnom businessu.
U ponudi 4K je ustvrdio da smatra da Adria može biti uspješna zrakoplovna kompanija sa liderskom pozicijom u Jugoistočnoj Europi. 4K je ponudio plan restrukturacije Adrie. Za kupnju Adrie 4K Invest je osnovala posebno trgovačko društvo SPV Special Purchase Vehicle 4K KNDNS GmbH registrirano u Njemačkoj. Ugovorna obveza investicije je 4K Invest iz Luksemburga, te se na isto uporablja Luksemburško pravo.
DeleteSDH je analizirala više scenarija rješenja problema Adrie: stečaj, osnivanje nove pravne osobe (poput Swissa ili Brusselsa), te dokapitalizacija i prodaja. SDH je nakon analize ustanovila da je dokapitalizacija i prodaja najbolja opcija i da je isto najmanje koštalo Sloveniju, jer bi osnivanje nove pravne osobe i stečaj koštalo daleko više. SDH tvrdi da bi trošak stečaja bio 3,2 milijuna EUR, dok je Slovenija dokapitalizirala Adriu sa 3,1 milijun EUR da bi je prodala 4K Investu za 100.000 EUR, no Adria je na ovaj način nastavila djelovati. Kako bi trošak stečaja bio veći od dokapitalizacije (za 100.000 EUR) samim time ne radi se o nelegalnoj pomoći države, koju bi Europska unija sankcionirala. Uz to SDH jasno navodi da Adrija uplaćuje na ime poreza i doprinosa godišnje 10 milijuna EUR, čega u slučaju stečaja ne bi bilo, te da bi isto stvorilo i 400.000 EUR novih mjesečnih troškova na ime prelaska djelatnika na zavod za zapošljavanje i socijalne pomoći istima kao nezaposlenima.
SDH uz to navodi važnost Adrie za slovensko gospodarstvo, obzirom da je Adria u 2015. dovezla 200.000 turista koji su u Sloveniju donijeli 28 milijuna EUR (140 EUR po turistu). Adrija povezuje Sloveniju sa 200 tjednih letova na 30 destinacija. Uz to preko partnera u Star Alliansi i code-share ugovorima Adria povezuje Sloveniju sa cijelim svijetom, ukidanjem Adrie Slovenija ne bi bila povezana sa balkanskim aerodromima (Sarajevo, Skopje, Priština, Podgorica, Tirana) što bi bilo vrlo štetno za slovensko gospodarstvo jer druge kompanije ne bi preuzele ove linije u slučaju ukidanja Adrie. SDH naglašava da Adria generira oko 150 milijuna EUR prihoda koji se realiziraju u Sloveniji.
Has Adria's schedule stabilised?
ReplyDeleteSomewhat. So far they have cancelled only 1 flights today - Skopje.
DeleteToday seems good but last few days there were many cancellations.
DeleteIt looks like all aircraft are back in service.
DeleteThat poor Skopje flight gets cancelled all the time.
DeleteYou spoke too soon. Evening Vienna flight has just been cancelled.
DeleteI find it hilarious that on their "flight status" page Adria has completely removed the Vienna flight. They didn't write cancelled, they simply removed the flight as if it never existed.
DeleteYou really did speak too soon. Afternoon Zurich flight on Saab has also been cancelled.
DeleteJP311. They also conveniently deleted it from the flight status page.
DeleteAs summer advances JP troubles will only increase since thatst when winter bookings start to happen and they are always lower than summer ones. That's why so many airlines go bankrupt after new year. I don't know how JP plans on surviving this winter.
ReplyDeleteSome "strategic partner" will come along, like that German guy with companies registered in Malta who is connected to 4K and they will pump more cash from god knows where.
DeleteSukhoi was their safety net for summer and winter but that fell through. We will see who they find now.
DeleteI don't know a sane company that would get themselves involved in this.
DeleteOne from the Cayman Islands.
DeleteAgree with anonymous 9.28 this winter is critical for JP.
DeleteI don't think there is a single airline in ex-yu that doesn't have fishy business practices.
ReplyDeleteMmm YM is pretty transparent actually.
DeleteI don't know if your being serious or just joking. I hope it's the latter.
DeleteAnon 09:40 very transparent about being heavily subsidized by the MN government.
DeleteAll of them are nontransparent and corrupt.
DeleteIt could not have come at a worse time for them.
ReplyDeleteIf you read the article, it doesn't seem Nordica is too phased by this debt and is not going to ask Adria to repay it straight away.
DeleteYou might have missed the part that Nordica is recording losses as well. As long as that keeps happening, they will start looking for the loan to be repayed, no matter what they say.
DeleteFunny how Estonia's and Slovenia's flag carriers are called Nordica and Adria respectively when neither of them have anything to do with Nordic states or the Adriatic sea
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell are you talking about? Baltic states are regularly regarded as part of the Nordics (in fact Estonian is closely related to Finnish), and Slovenia has almost 50 km of coastline on the Adriatic.
DeleteLife has been good to you @anon 9.35
DeleteAnonymous 09:39: haha, missed the geography classes, have you? ;)
DeleteAnonymous at 09.39 is right. Names are not rappresentative of the countries.
DeleteWith this logic, why is Wizzair the unofficial flag carrier of N Macedonia which has got nothing to do with Hungary?
DeleteCan someone explain to me what is Nordica's current status. They have been bought up by LOT and no longer operate their own flights but they still exist? I don't get it.
ReplyDeleteSomething that will probably happen with Adria too sooner or later
DeleteEstonia’s national airline, Nordica, will give up operating commercial flights in its own name for the foreseeable future, blaming overcapacity at its home hub at Tallinn Airport.
Nordica will continue to operate public service obligation flights (the European equivalent of US Essential Air Services program) and will use its fleet for ACMI services on behalf of other carriers.
The state-owned airline will cease selling tickets for flights after Oct. 26. Under an agreement with Polish national airline LOT, the latter company will take over the management of ticket sales and customer service, while Nordica will focus solely on operating flights.
Nordic Aviation Group (=Nordica) is just an holding company without AOC. Part of planes are owned by Transpordi Varahaldus (a state owned company), staff belongs to another company and Regional Jet (51% Estonian, 49% LOT) operates all the flights renting planes from Transpordi Varahaldus and staff from a rental company. Nordica just hired a new boss who will start in September. On the other hand they quit all flights from Tallinn and operate (Regional Jet operates) only as an ACMI company (4+4 ATRs and 2 CRJ for SAS, Some Swedish routes with CRJ, one plane for Air Serbia and the rest (from soon to be 23 planes) for LOT.
DeleteAh I see. So basically they are one of those virtual carriers.
DeleteYes
DeleteI don't know who will disappear first - Nordica or Adria.
ReplyDeleteNordica as an airline already has.
DeleteI really hope there will be some solution for Adria sooner or later. Problems just seem to be piling up.
ReplyDeleteAt least my flight to Munich this morning was not cancelled. :D
DeleteGood to hear. If I remember correctly you were rightly worried a few days ago. Hope the flight was good. How were the loads?
DeleteI'm also interested if you could share your experience with them, considering the difficult times the company is going through.
DeleteLF was around 50-60%. There was no one in "business" class except cabin crew and pilot for Adria's CRJ-900 based in MUC, I would assume leased to Lufthansa. Flight was on time, surprisingly cabin crew seemed quite positive. Flight was 50ish minutes only so uneventful. I fly with Adria regularly, never had any issues tho I use them only to reach star alliance hubs (MUC, FRA, ZRH). I may write the whole trip report to Portland if I find time in the next few days.
DeleteThanks for the info. That would be great :)
DeletePerhaps the new GM who used to be high up at Nordica can resolve this.
ReplyDeleteHow can he resolve it? Just because he worked their they won't forget this loan.
DeleteTheir seems to be too many coincidences. People working for one airline then the other, both airlines with fishy deals, same advisers, same auditors...
DeleteThe solution would be to bankrupt this company and for the government to set up new national carrier and give it to a foreign strategic partner with actual airline experience to manage it.
ReplyDeleteAlso government should buy the Adria brand name. Would be unfortunate for it to disappear.
DeleteIt will be cheaper just to let foreign airlines flood the market.
DeleteIn my opinion, there will be no "market flooding". That is why, Alenka Bratusek had a meeting with Aero4M about the possibility of them taking over the BRU route. Even though she is not the brightest nor the most competent (after all, she was the PM when Adria's fate was being decided), she knows that foreign airlines are not that eager to take over Adria's routes.
DeleteWow never thought about Aero4m. What kind of fleet do they have at the moment?
DeleteThey are wet leasing an ATR to HOP this summer. I presume they would have to get something bigger for Brussels route
Deletehttps://www.exyuaviation.com/2019/02/slovenias-aero4m-wet-leases-plane-to.html
Well at least they contacted Slovenian airline first which is nice.
DeleteAgree with 10.18. The brand is iconic.
DeleteThey have no plans to renationalise or buy the brand. They already made that clear. They said they would give subsidies to other airline to maintain key routes.
DeleteBrand is iconic? What do you think people think when you mention Adria today?
DeleteIs it just me or do the white stickers they used on the aircraft in the photo to cover up previous livery is completely crumpled around the tail
ReplyDeleteIt is.
DeleteThis slow death is excruciating to watch.
ReplyDeleteSlovenian media are speculating they won't survive past October.
DeleteAdria failed to adapt to the market and needs to go. Shame, as the market has very low cost penetration. Should have kept CRJ900 for high frequency flights to *A hubs (FRA, VIE, MUC, ZRH, BRU), got rid of CRJ700 and Saabs and expanded A319 fleet to connect major European network at low frequency. Instead they have too many aircraft types, poor utilisation and abysmal European network.
ReplyDeleteWho on earth approved this sort of arrangement. This is ludicrous.
ReplyDeleteI see how it worked well for Adria but not for Nordica.
DeleteI wonder if Ljubljana-Talinn flights would be feasible (2x weekly?)
ReplyDeleteHow would it be feasible? Adria couldn't make Ljubljana-Sofia work, let alone Tallinn.
Delete"Primarily because of Adria's difficult financial situation, which is no secret"
ReplyDeleteHow come? Didn't 4K say they were doing well financially.
Not good to see but what is more annoying for me is that this is a real good opportunity for OU. They can set up a Ljubljana base starting with 2 to 4 CRJ1000 (wet leased) and basically get headache free what would have been the proposed merger. Star base, miles and more members.
ReplyDeleteTrue!
DeleteYes, they could start with CRJ900 leased from JP. What an irony what would be!
DeleteBTW, Nordica has lost some PSO in Estonia, so they are missing some money obviously.
ReplyDeleteThey are also in mode of trying to squeeze every single dolar in order to survive as company
https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/79621-nordicas-saaremaa-pso-award-appeal-rejected