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Czechs like Korean Air bid for troubled carrier CSA

Czech Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek on May 5, 2009 at EU headquarters in Brussels. The Czech finance minister said Wednesday he would ask the government to approve Korean Air's 2.64-million-euro ($3.44-million) offer for a 44-percent stake in the troubled Czech carrier Czech Airlines (CSA)

The Czech finance minister said Wednesday he would ask the government to approve Korean Air's 2.64-million-euro ($3.44-million) offer for a 44-percent stake in the troubled Czech carrier Czech Airlines (CSA). "The sum is adequate," Miroslav Kalousek told reporters, adding that he would ask the austerity-minded centre-right government to approve the deal next week. Last year, Ernst&Young auditors put the value of the Czech government's 95.7-percent stake in CSA at 148 million koruna (5.8 million euros, $7.5 million). "What is far more important than the price is the investor's strategic plan," added Kalousek, underscoring CSA's potential inclusion in Korean Air's distribution network and the buyer's plan to turn Prague's state-owned airport into its European hub. "Korean Air provides regular transport to 105 international and 13 domestic destinations, it runs 140 aircraft and employs 6,000 pilots," Kalousek said, calling the Korean airline "a dynamic, large and reliable company. "This is a bid that ensures optimal development, employment and the very existence of CSA while offering a rather remarkable perspective to the Vaclav Havel Airport," he added. Korean Air was the only bidder to submit an offer by a March 1 deadline after Qatar Airways, which had also expressed interest, backed out. Under European regulations, the Czech Republic, an EU member which abandoned an attempt to sell CSA in 2009, can allow non-European companies to acquire only minority stakes in strategic companies. With a fleet of 26 planes, CSA posted a loss of 241 million koruna in 2011.