May 19 (SeeNews) - Moldova’s government will launch insolvency proceedings against Avia Invest, the operator of the Chisinau airport, prime minister Ion Chicu said.
For its part, representatives of Avia Invest's mother company Komaksavia Airport Invest said the company will file an 885 million euro ($956 million) lawsuit against the government for what it claims are unlawful actions.
"The company which in 2013 said it will invest in the upgrade of Moldova's only airport became unable to pay its debts and fell behind its payment schedule. As a result, on April 30, 2020 its accounts were blocked," Chicu said in a press briefing broadcast by local news portal Unimedia on Monday. "I can confirm that we have not received any money as of today. That is why we will initiate insolvency proceedings against this economic agent."
During 2017-2019, Avia Invest accumulated over 118 million lei ($6.5 million/ 6 million euro) in debts, which it agreed to repay gradually starting July 2019. However, it managed to repay only a little more than half of its liabilities and currently owes the government some 50 million lei, the prime minister added.
According to Chicu, if the company enters insolvency, the government will have solid legal grounds to terminate the 49-year concession contract.
While Chicu was giving the press briefing, Komaksavia Airport Invest officials said the company is filling a lawsuit against the Moldovan government, claiming 885 million euro in compensation over a recent government decree requesting that Avia Invest transfer half of their passenger fees to the state budget in order to help authorities mitigate the economic effects of the coronavirus outbreak.
"Not a single private investor is capable of implementing its obligations under such strong pressure on the part of the state," Komaksavia Airport Invest director Andreas Menelaou told a press conference broadcast by Unimedia on Monday.
Cyprus-based Komaksavia Airport Invest owns 95% of Avia Invest.
In August, Guernsey, Channel Islands-registered property investment firm NR Investments said it has agreed to acquire 95% of Avia Invest. The announcement prompted the Moldovan government to seek cancellation of the concession in court.
Avia Invest won a 49-year concession for Chisinau International Airport in 2013.
In 2015, Moldova's government announced it was considering to terminate the contract with Avia Invest, acting upon recommendation of the country's anti-corruption authority CNA. According to the media reports at the time, CNA was of the opinion that the deal has to be annulled after its investigation found that Avia Invest had not made any investments in the modernisation of the airport and some of the airport's profits were channelled to a business held by a local entrepreneur.
(1 euro=19.249 lei)