newstodate.aero
Sep 09, 2011 (newstodate): The issues around ownership of the Hungarian Malev has come into the spotlight.
According to a fresh pile of documents, published by Wikileaks, Malev is actually 100 percent owned by Russian capital, which would be in direct contradiction with EU regulations for carriers to maintain their EU designation.
It is well known that 49 percent of the shares were taken over in January 2009 by Russia's state-owned investment and development bank, Vnesheconombank that received the stake after the collapse of KrasAir that acquired the airline through a tender closed in February, 2007.
According to official information, the remaining 51 percent are owned by two Hungarian nationals, but Wikileaks has now published communication from US diplomats that claim that capital provided by the Russian bank is also behind the two Hungarians, acting as straw-men in the deal.
To qualify as an "EU carrier" with the rights and obligations pertaining to this status, a majority of the stake in a EU-based carrier must rest with EU nationals.
The EU Commission has earlier probed into the ownership status of Malev.
According to a fresh pile of documents, published by Wikileaks, Malev is actually 100 percent owned by Russian capital, which would be in direct contradiction with EU regulations for carriers to maintain their EU designation.
It is well known that 49 percent of the shares were taken over in January 2009 by Russia's state-owned investment and development bank, Vnesheconombank that received the stake after the collapse of KrasAir that acquired the airline through a tender closed in February, 2007.
According to official information, the remaining 51 percent are owned by two Hungarian nationals, but Wikileaks has now published communication from US diplomats that claim that capital provided by the Russian bank is also behind the two Hungarians, acting as straw-men in the deal.
To qualify as an "EU carrier" with the rights and obligations pertaining to this status, a majority of the stake in a EU-based carrier must rest with EU nationals.
The EU Commission has earlier probed into the ownership status of Malev.