Croatia's flag carrier hasn't had a particularly easy time of it of late. With the desperate search having been on for some time to finally locate a potential strategic partner, Croatia Airlines has been down on its luck and the enfeebled air company, despite having had a good tourist season last summer, is still struggling.
While privatisation isn't always a popular move for companies of such size, it may be the only way forward in some situations. It seems that the fate of Croatia Airlines is now not only heading in that very direction, but that it has already begun, with the process apparently ongoing.
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 1st of February, 2019, after having visited Pelješac Bridge's construction site, on which work on the highly anticipated bridge is progressing faster than previously thought, Minister of Maritime Affairs, Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Butković, spoke about the fate of Croatia Airlines. He announced that the only national airline company is now ready for privatisation.
Minister Oleg Butković told Dnevnik that when it comes to the road to Croatia Airlines' privatisation, ''the process is ongoing".
"At the next session of the Government, or at the one after that, a decision will be made on the commission [for the privatisation process], which will monitor the entire process of finding a strategic partner [for Croatia Airlines]"
"Croatia Airlines' management has begun the process of selecting a financial advisor, so all of the preparatory actions, more specifically concrete actions are ongoing, and after all these decisions are made then we'll see who is interested. There are interested people who have made themselves known, but I wouldn't say more about any specific names,'' added the minister.
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