The year 2022 is "crucial" for the fate of the Romanian national airline Tarom and the company must "make an effort" if it wants to get the green light from the European Commission for the EUR 190 mln state aid and to become profitable again, transport minister Sorin Grindeanu (SocDem) said in a TV show at Prima TV, quoted by daily Adevarul.

Surprisingly, he was speaking about the aid for Tarom as it would have been disbursed by the European Commission - while it is financed from the national budget and only endorsed, for reasons related to the fair competition, by the Commission.

"We, in the company, have to do things so that we can get this aid from the Commission. This must happen in 2022. This plan, whether we are talking about restructuring, route optimization, is already accepted [by the Commission]; it must be put into practice. There may be some small adjustments, but this plan is broadly accepted. We have to stick to it so that Tarom can get back on track. It's not going to be easy. [...] Let's see whether we can rescue this key company," Grindeanu commented.

Tarom has constantly incurred losses over the past decade, under politically-appointed management.

It received a temporary rescue loan of approximately EUR 36.7 mln from the Romanian state, cleared by the Commission in February 2020.

On 28 May 2021, the Romanian authorities notified the Commission of a restructuring plan drafted for the company (so that the temporary rescue loan is not returned). The restructuring plan sets out a package of measures to streamline Tarom's operations, renew the ageing fleet and reduce costs.

This July, the European Commission has opened an investigation to assess whether the EUR 190 million state aid that the Romanian authorities want to grant to Tarom airline complies with EU state aid rules, Economedia reported at the time.

(Photo: Cateyeperspective/ Dreamstime)

andrei@romania-insider.com