AirBaltic lien on the block

RIGA - KPMG Baltics, the administrator of the defunct bank Latvijas Krajbanka, and Neil Hunter Cooper, administrator for Snoras Bank, will auction a lien against Latvia’s national airline airBaltic, currently held by Latvijas Krajbanka subsidiary Atlantijas biroji, at the beginning of November, said KPMG Baltics representative Oskars Firmanis, reports Nozare.lv.

The face value of the lien is 51.7 million lats (73.8 million euros), and this will also be the starting price at the auction. If the lien is sold, the administrators will be able to repay part of the banks’ debts to their creditors.
The auction will take place on Nov. 4. Prospective bidders must place a 1 million lats deposit in a bank account indicated by Latvijas Krajbanka three days before the auction.

Baltijas Aviacijas sistemas (BAS), then a shareholder in airBaltic, borrowed tens of millions of lats from Latvijas krajbanka and Snoras, and invested the money in airBaltic. BAS has not honored its obligations (over 65.5 million lats in total) to the two banks, hence the lien.