May 3 (SeeNews) - The European Commission said it approved a 1.9 million euro ($1.99 million) Romanian aid package for state-owned airline Tarom, to offset the financial loss incurred during the pandemic.
The aid package will be deployed as a capital injection which addresses damage incurred by Tarom between July 1, 2020 and the December 31, 2020 across 14 flight routes, the Commission said in a statement on Monday.
The European Commission previously approved a 19.3 million euro loan guarantee for Tarom in October 2020, for the period between the March 16 and June 30, 2020, when the carrier had cancelled most of its scheduled flights.
This was preceded by a 36.7 million euro loan from Romania, which the Commission approved in February 2020.
Tarom appointed a new general manager, Mihaita Ursu, in January 2021.
Tarom is a Romanian airline in which the transport ministry holds a 97.22% stake. According to finance ministry data, the company closed 2020 at break even on a turnover of 355.3 million lei ($75.5 million/71.8 million euro).
(1 euro = 4.94 Romanian lei)