AVAS (Authority for State Assets Recovery) pressured into privatizing "Avioane" Craiova by June 30

• The Government may appoint OPSPI (Office for State Interests and Industrial Privatisation) to handle the sale of the aircraft company

Ştefania Ciocîrlan

The Authority for State Assets Recovery (AVAS) only has until the end of June 2009 to complete the privatization of "Avioane" Craiova, or else the privatization of the company may be done by the Office for State Interests and Industrial Privatization (OPSPI).

The deadline is rather tight, given the fact that "Alenia Aeronautica", the only company interested in acquiring the aeronautics company, has pledged to submit the final, improved and irrevocable offer, by May 27th.

The managers of AVAS on Friday said that they are doing their best to complete the privatization of "Avioane" Craiova by May 30th. That is when its license to negotiate the sell-off of the Craiova-based company will expire.

"Alenia" Management on Thursday sent a letter stating that their company wants to continue the privatization negotiations after June 15th, after reviewing the investments that "Avioane" Craiova would require in order to carry out the military component of the suggested plan.

At the end of 2008, "Avioane Craiova" was put under the authority of the Ministry of the Economy, once the OPSPI was taken over from AVAS by the Ministry of the Economy.

AVAS has been struggling with selling the aeronautical company for more than a year, as it was forced to reissue the privatization offer last year in Autumn, after negotiations with Czech-based "Aero Vodochody" failed. Even though, at the time, neither side gave a clear explanation on why the negotiations failed, it seems that the main impediment in the completion of the deal was the company"s more than EUR 6 million in debt.