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Sat, May 26 2012
Malév airline grounds all flights after running out of cash
eople wait in front of the ticket office of Hungarian airline Malev at Ferenc Liszt airport in Budapest February 3, 2012. Malev announced on Friday that it had stopped operating because its liquidity situation has become unsustainable and all its flights had been grounded as of 0500 GMT on Friday. The airline had been placed under extraordinary protection from creditors and a receiver was appointed earlier this week.
Photo: Reuters
Hungarian airline Malév grounded all flights on February 3 to stave off further losses after running out of money.
"After 66 years of continuous operation, Malév aircraft will not depart from 6am on February 3," the airline said.
"Unfortunately, the event occurred which we had a greatest fear of and we wanted to avoid with might and main," chief executive Loránt Limburger said.
"Although, until the latter days there were prospects to continue operation and the trust of our passengers is unbroken, our partners lost their trust due to the information published in the last days and they started to ask for payment of their services in advance."
Limburger said that this had speeded up the cash outflow and the situation of the airline had become "untenable".
It is also known that the owner, despite the best intentions, is unable to provide additional financial resources to operate after the EU decision, he said.
"Considering all these the Board decided to order the cease of operation of the Hungary’s National Airline. We apologise to all of our passengers," Limburger said.
As to rerouting and compensation, the airline cited the government regulation that came into force on January 31 2012 by which assistance can be provided to those passengers who purchased valid tickets before Malév ceased operations and whose travel dates are on the day of suspension of operations or on the following three calendar days.
"In addition, to those who already travelled to their destination on the suspension day or before and possess valid return tickets on Malév flights on a date not later than February 29 2012. Those who are entitled are going to have assistance from Malév by rerouting their tickets to other flights or other modes of transportation," the airline said.
The Voice of America said that the shutdown comes about a month after the European Commission ordered the airline to repay millions of euro in government subsides it received between 2007 and 2010.
Malév has been operating a Budapest – Sofia connection five days a week except Saturdays.
"After 66 years of continuous operation, Malév aircraft will not depart from 6am on February 3," the airline said.
"Unfortunately, the event occurred which we had a greatest fear of and we wanted to avoid with might and main," chief executive Loránt Limburger said.
"Although, until the latter days there were prospects to continue operation and the trust of our passengers is unbroken, our partners lost their trust due to the information published in the last days and they started to ask for payment of their services in advance."
Limburger said that this had speeded up the cash outflow and the situation of the airline had become "untenable".
It is also known that the owner, despite the best intentions, is unable to provide additional financial resources to operate after the EU decision, he said.
"Considering all these the Board decided to order the cease of operation of the Hungary’s National Airline. We apologise to all of our passengers," Limburger said.
As to rerouting and compensation, the airline cited the government regulation that came into force on January 31 2012 by which assistance can be provided to those passengers who purchased valid tickets before Malév ceased operations and whose travel dates are on the day of suspension of operations or on the following three calendar days.
"In addition, to those who already travelled to their destination on the suspension day or before and possess valid return tickets on Malév flights on a date not later than February 29 2012. Those who are entitled are going to have assistance from Malév by rerouting their tickets to other flights or other modes of transportation," the airline said.
The Voice of America said that the shutdown comes about a month after the European Commission ordered the airline to repay millions of euro in government subsides it received between 2007 and 2010.
Malév has been operating a Budapest – Sofia connection five days a week except Saturdays.
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Kamenitza
Yassen Lyubenov is the new head of marketing at Bulgarian beer brewer Kamenitza. Lyubenov has 12 years of experience in marketing in the fast-moving consumer goods sector and has started his career as assistant brand manager at Kraft Foods Bulgaria. He later became brand manager at Wrigley Bulgaria, with responsibilities for Bulgaria and Macedonia. Prior to joining Kamenitza, he was senior marketing manager at Wrigley Russia, where he was in charge of brand expansion into Ukraine, Belarus, Central Asia and the Caucasus. Lyubenov has a bachelor's degree in international business administration from the University of Lincoln, UK.
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Bedros Kalfayan, general manager of skin care and cosmetics company Beiersdorf Bulgaria, will oversee the parent's company units in Romania and Moldova starting April 1. Following company restructuring, Beiersdorf's subsidiaries in the three countries were merged and are now one unit, part of Beiersdorf Central and Eastern Europe. Kalfayan joined Beiersdorf in 2007 as sales manager and was promoted to general manager in 2008. Prior to that, he worked for Axxon Bulgaria, Ferrero and Rubella. Kalfayan has a master's degree in industrial management from the Technical University in Sofia.
Hewlett-Packard
Sasha Bezuhanova has been appointed Hewlett-Packard public sector director for emerging markets, where she will oversee HP public sector activities in 63 countries, including Bulgaria. Bezuhanova will also be in charge of HP's relations with the European Union. Bezuhanova has been HP's public sector director for Central and Eastern Europe since 2008; before that she was general manager of HP Bulgaria since 1998. Bezuhanova has a master's degree in electronics from the Technical University in Sofia and has completed a managment programme at INSEAD.
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