The topic of restructuring of the national airline Estonian Air has been on the government's table on four occasions in recent past and the government expects to take it up again soon, Minister of Economy and Communications Juhan Parts said on Thursday.
"The government didn't discuss anything today with regard to Estonian Air because the company is still preparing its restructuring plan," Parts told reporters. "It takes a bit of time. We hope, once it [restructuring plan] exists in sufficient quality, to be able to discuss it in the near future," he said.
Last week Parts said the government was expecting a plan for Estonian Air by the beginning of this week.
"The restructuring plan is a very central document. It will serve as basis for us in making our decision, whether the company is capable of acting sustainably in the long term or not. The plan will also serve as basis for cooperation with the European Commission. Therefore there are additional requirements for the plan besides that it contain ordinary business strategy," Parts added.
"We've got so much time that we do not have to rush. We want it to be a very high-quality document, therefore we didn't discuss it today," said the minister.
The chairman of the supervisory board of Estonian Air, Erkki Raasuke, has said the airline and the supervisory board have entered the home stretch with the plan. "The plan that is in the final stretch is now on the company's and the supervisory board's table. The company has presented it to the supervisory board on repeated occasions. We have made it more specific and made additions to it where necessary and then sent it back to the company," Raasuke told Eesti Paevaleht on Thursday.
Raasuke did not rule out that the plan could require a couple of months to be approved, as the European Commission must agree with each of the points contained in it.
Parts described the European Commission's decision on Wednesday to open an in-depth inquiry into support measures granted by Estonia to its national carrier as "consistent with expectations and natural, because they must do it when there are placements of capital by the government."
"Entering the next phase of the proceeding means that real discussion between the company, the state, other market participants and the Commission will now become more substantive," he said.
"When the state makes any additional decisions, either on capital injection or increasing the loan, it will be subject to investigation too," said the minister.
He declined to be specific when asked whether the restructuring will bring about a positive outcome. "It is a long process and definitely it isn't a simple one. Right now we are working to make a plan that would meet the rules of state aid and general principles of competition on the aviation market."