Warsaw (Puls Biznesu) – The CEO of the low-cost carrier owned by LOT believes that it doesn’t matter whether his company will be listed or sold to an investor.
Ireneusz Dąbrowski, the deputy Minister of the Treasure, has said recently that Centralwings may either be listed just after LOT flag carrier, its owner, conducts its debut or sold to an investor. According to Maciej Kwiatkowski, Centralwings CEO, the stock exchange would be a quicker solution although there are some disadvantages.
“Air industry needs flexibility. When you merge low-cost and charter services there may be problems with reporting. I can adjust, however, to every solution. I’m determined to save the company”, Maciej Kwiatkowski said.
He admitted that it would be no problem to find investors interested in Centralwings.
“Without doubt, they will be queuing. These could be pension funds, as high-ranked representatives of the banking sector suggested to me. These could be entities connected with the airline business – another airline or a financial company”, Maciej Kwiatkowski believed.
In his opinion, two-thirds of planned investment projects worth PLN 120m (EUR 31.5m) have been implemented already. At the end of 2005, after one year of operations, Centralwings was evaluated at PLN 300m.
“Before the way of privatization is chosen, we need another evaluation, which should be much higher”, Maciej Kwiatkowski said.
Before it is sold, Centralwings is going to need funds for investment projects so that the company is profitable at the end of 2008.
“We will need about PLN 30m if Centralwings is sold in the beginning of 2008. In case of delays, additional costs would have to be added”, Centralwings CEO added.
(PLN 1 = EUR 0.262)