Air Armenia Company embarks on second phase of overcoming stress period
Air Armenia airline has embarked on the second phase of overcoming the crisis situation, Sirakan Hambartsoumyan, the head of Marketing Department at Air Armenia, told ArmInfo. He said the registration of the shares at the Agency of the State Register of Legal Entities is over. The company launched this procedure to change its statutory capital and attract investors.
"We are due to launch negotiations for leasing of aircrafts. If everything meets schedule, Air Armenia will resume flights as early as in the spring of 2016," Hambartsoumyan said. In his words, the company is working to have its bank accounts unfrozen. "After settling this problem, we will draft a business plan for development of the airline, determine the number of leased aircrafts and make contracts to launch airflgihts," he said.
Air Armenia received US$68.6 million from East Prospect Fund in exchange for 49% of its shares, Air Armenia told ArmInfo earlier.
According to the source, the airline is free to use the received funds as necessary. The deal gave Air Armenia guaranteed funds and increased the value of the airline's shares.
"The key achievement of the deal is the airline's protection against bankruptcy and other risks," the airline says.
East Prospect Fund registered on the British Virgin Islands bought a 49% stake in Air Armenia and promised to invest $30mln in the company's development. The agreement with the fund was signed on Dec 19 2014. Executive of East Prospect Fund British Virgin Islands Vladimir Bobylev told reporters in Yerevan that at the first stage they are planning to spend $30mln to buy new planes and to open new flights to Arab states and Southeast Asia and to reschedule the company's debts. "We chose Air Armenia because we believe that it can prosper. Our goal is to make Air Armenia the leader of the region," Bobylev said.
In late October, Air Armenia leadership adopted a decision to launch financial restructuring and change the timetable. After Armavia national air carried launched a bankruptcy procedure (April 1 2013), Air Armenia that was previously serving charter flights to CIS, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa, launched passenger transportation. East Prospect Fund is registered on the British Virgin Islands. On its website East Prospect presents itself as a fund manager specializing in "problematic assets." The Fund is managed from London and Kiev.