Airline sell-off looming

The State Property Fund on March 22 decided to proceed with the privatization of the national air carrier Lietuvos Avialinijos after it approved a report from the airline's privatization adviser, a consortium led by the German company Indecon Consulting.

Officials from the State Property Fund and the tender commission for the privatization of transport Companies met last week with representatives from at least three international air carriers in Vilnius.

State Property Fund officials said they would not make the names of the potential strategic investors public because it could hurt the state's negotiating position.

Finland's Finnair, the Dutch carrier KLM, British Airways, Germany's Lufthansa, Poland's LOT and Scandinavian Airlines Systems all showed interest in the Lithuanian company's sell-off process last year, which was delayed.

The daily newspaper Lietuvos Rytas reported that among the carriers in Vilnius last week were Italy's Allitalia, Finnair, Denmark's Maersk Airlines and Scandinavia Airlines Systems.

The Lithuanian government will sell a 49 percent stake in the company to a strategic investor. The state currently owns 100 percent of the company.

SAS officials said late last year the company would not invest in Lietuvos Avialinijos.

The company has forecast a profit for the next three years, according to an action plan submitted this week.

The company posted an unaudited loss last year of about 25 million litas ($6.25 million).