Ukraine International Airlines (UIA, Kyiv) considers a priority issue of debt restructuring to state-owned enterprises – Boryspil airport (Kyiv) and UkSATSE. “Debt restructuring for me is one of the priority tasks. On this issue, we are in the negotiation process with the state, and I see that there is a political will for a mutually beneficial solution,” CEO of the airline Yevhen Dykhne said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, now the issue of the consolidated position of the state on granting powers to the leaders of Boryspil airport and UkSATSE is being worked out.
“They should receive additional powers as an act of goodwill on the part of the state to meet airlines halfway in stopping fines, penalties and restructuring debts, because today, they do not have such a right as heads of state-owned enterprises. We also need political will, which should be formalized into a government decision,” Dykhne said.
According to him, at present, UIA has disputes in courts totaling almost UAH 1.5 billion with UkSATSE and almost UAH 800 million with Boryspil airport.
“We are talking with businesses and with the government about a five-seven-year repayment schedule, because we cannot talk about another restructuring, we cannot deceive anyone. We are talking about a situation that we can serve. Our proposed audit as an attachment to this restructuring shows our ability to pay,” the CEO of UIA said.
According to Dykhne, during his work at the company neither in 2020 nor in 2021 there was no increase in debts to these state-owned enterprises, since the airline began working with them on a prepayment basis.
The Supreme Court of Ukraine supported the position of the Ukrainian State Air Traffic Services Enterprise (UkSATSE) to oblige Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) to conclude an agreement for the provision of air navigation services, which deprived the airline of the possibility of non-payment of debt for received services.
According to the press service of UkSATSE, on September 30, 2020, the Commercial Cassation Court within the Supreme Court of Ukraine refused to satisfy UIA’s cassation against the decision of the North (Pivnichny) Commercial Court of Appeal on the need to oblige the airline to conclude an agreement for the provision of air navigation services.
Earlier, the North Commercial Court of Appeal fully satisfied the appeal of UkSATSE against UIA on the settlement of disputes and the company’s obligation to conclude an appropriate agreement.
“Attempts of the debtor airline to appeal this decision to the Supreme Court today received a final decision, as a result of which it was declared the need to sign an agreement between Ukraine International Airlines and the Ukrainian State Air Traffic Services Enterprise for the provision of air navigation services and to determine a charging mechanism, which is standard for all Ukrainian airlines,” the company said.
As reported, the Economic Court of Kyiv region in August 2020 declared the absence of discriminatory terms of the UkSATSE service agreement in a dispute with UIA.
UIA filed a lawsuit against the discriminatory terms of the air navigation services agreement in the autumn of 2018.
Traffic in the airspace of Ukraine in August fell by 56.3% compared to August 2019, the press service of the Ukrainian State Air Traffic Services Enterprise (UkSATSE) has reported.
In general, last month UkSATSE serviced 16,690 flights, of which 2,519 were domestic (a decrease in the number by 15.7% compared to August 2019), 8,249 were international (50.4% less), and 5,922 were transit (68.2% less).
Ukrainian airlines performed 6,373 flights (45.5% less than in August last year), foreign airlines some 10,317 flights (61.1% less).
As reported, traffic in the airspace of Ukraine in July fell by 68.3% compared to July 2019, UkSATSE serviced 12,195 flights.
The Ukrainian State Air Traffic Services Enterprise (UkSATSE) has been certified by the State Aviation Service as for the serviceability of the new automated air traffic control (ATC) system installed in the Lviv regional division made by Indra Sistemas S.A.
According to an UkSATSE posting on its Facebook page on Friday, the certificate issued on June 12, 2020 will be valid for five years.
“Acceptance tests of the new system took place in accordance with the schedules, despite the quarantine period,” Head of UkSATSE Andriy Yarmak said.
The new system has a wide range of functions necessary for high-quality air traffic services, which will allow, in particular, to introduce Free Routes Airspace between adjacent air traffic control centers of neighboring countries. In addition, the new equipment will create comfortable working conditions for air traffic controllers and will contribute to improving flight safety in the western part of the country’s airspace.
According to the company, in the near future the Indra system will be put into operational use, while it will become the main system, and the Roksolana, which Lviv specialists worked with earlier, will be used as a backup system.
Currently, experts are developing a plan for the transition to the new system.
In addition, the State Aviation Administration also certified the UkSATSE’s Anastasia II automated ATC system, which operates in the Odesa regional division.
The certificate was issued on June 12, 2020 and will be valid for five years.
Ukraine’s State Air Traffic Services Enterprise (UkSATSE) and Busin Insurance Company (Kyiv) have concluded an agreement on compulsory aircraft insurance on June 27 (3 planes), according to information on the ProZorro portal. The bid was expected at UAH 3.127 million, Busin’s actual bid was UAH 2.920 million.
IC INGO whose bid was UAH 2.940 million also took part in the bidding.
UkSATSE was founded in 1992. The main mission of UkSATSE is to provide an efficient and safe air navigation services in the Ukrainian airspace and in the airspace over the high seas where the responsibility for providing air traffic services is delegated to Ukraine under the international agreements.
It services five areas of responsibility covering 774,569 km.
