Lithuania’s transport minister said Thursday that Latvia’s offer to sell a stake in its national airline, airBaltic, lacks sufficient financial and operational information to move forward.
“The content of what was sent to us was insufficient,” Transport Minister Eugenijus Sabutis told the radio Žinių Radijas. “Lithuanian Airports and our colleagues from airBaltic have now been tasked with presenting our position and obtaining more information. The first thing we need is proper financial and general data about the company.”
Sabutis said he received the initial offer directly from Latvia’s transport minister, but could not disclose its content due to confidentiality.
“There was a request to maintain confidentiality, so I can’t discuss the details,” he said. “I know the Estonian side has made the offer public, but I can’t confirm whether it matches what we received.”
Latvia’s Transport Ministry previously confirmed to BNS that it made the same offer to Lithuania and Estonia to buy shares in the airline.
Estonia’s Minister of Infrastructure Kuldar Leis said in early July that Estonia had been offered up to a 10% stake in airBaltic for 14 million euros. According to him, the same terms were offered to Lithuania and Germany’s Lufthansa.
Lithuanian Airports, the state-owned company evaluating the proposal, told BNS in early July that a preliminary assessment was underway.
Prime Minister Gintautas Paluckas said in June that Lithuanian Airports would first need to evaluate the Latvian proposal and advise whether pursuing it would be in the national interest.
Lithuania’s previous transport minister, Marius Skuodis, said in January 2024 that talks were ongoing regarding possible terms of a deal, including a condition that some aircraft would be based in Lithuania.
Latvia’s government currently owns 97.97% of airBaltic shares, while the remaining stake is held by Danish investment firm Aircraft Leasing 1.
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