The leaders of Austria's ruling coalition will discuss the sale of the state's stake in Austrian Airlines ahead of a full government meeting on August 12, a government spokesmen said on Friday.
Any deal struck during the leaders' talks is unlikely to be turned down in the subsequent government meeting, making the talks crucial to the possible sale of Austrian.
Conservative leader and Finance Minister Wilhelm Molterer will invite "the relevant decision-makers" to the talks, his spokesman said, but he declined to be drawn on a date and on who would take part in the talks.
Austrian daily Die Presse reported on Friday that outgoing Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, new Social Democrat leader and Transport Minister Werner Faymann, and Finance Minister Molterer would meet next Tuesday to discuss the airline.
The head of government holding company OeIAG, which holds the government's 43 percent stake in the airline worth EUR140 million euros (USD$218 million), will also take part in the meeting, Die Presse said. OeIAG declined to comment.
With elections looming in September, the stake sale is supported by Conservatives, but opposed by many Social Democrats, though Faymann has said he would back it if a deal protected Austrian interests such as keeping Vienna Airport as Austrian's hub.
After Russia's Aeroflot took itself out of the race this week, the remaining realistic candidates to buy the stake are Air France-KLM and THY Turkish Airlines.
(Reuters)
Source: http://news.airwise.com/story/view/1217592529.html