Croatia's newly appointed Minister for Sea, Transport and Infrastructure, Oleg Butković, says Croatia Airlines (OU, Zagreb Franjo Tuđman) should only pursue a strategic partnership once it has managed to consolidate both its market and financial positions.
According to RTL news, while Butković's comments have raised concern that Croatia Airlines' privatization process could be prolonged, he did underscore that its future prospects depended on a strong strategic partner capable of ensuring continued network expansion and market-share growth.
"Croatia Airlines has already gone through a restructuring programme; it has turned a net profit, albeit a marginal one, but without a strategic partner, there can be no further development," he said.
The previous Milanović administration enlisted the World Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC) to seek out a prospective investor for Croatia Airlines. While media reports claimed Lufthansa (LH, Frankfurt International), Turkish Airlines (TK, Istanbul Airport), and Aegean Airlines (A3, Athens) had shown an interest, the Germans and Turks subsequently rejected them and the Greeks refused to comment.
A formal decision on the airline's privatization is expected during summer this year.
