The Swedish National Debt Office announced on Tuesday that it is rejecting the application for a credit guarantee by the airline Norwegian's Swedish subsidiary. The decision is justified by the authority's belief that at the end of 2019 there was a high risk that the company would not be able to fulfill its financial obligations.
In a press release, the Swedish National Debt Office writes that the authority has been commissioned by the government to issue credit guarantees for new loans to airlines that in January had a Swedish license and their main operations in the country.
According to the Swedish Debt Office, a guarantee may only be granted to airlines that are deemed to have been financially sound at the end of 2019.
”"The National Debt Office's assessment regarding Norwegian is that as of December 31, 2019, there was a very high risk that Norwegian would not be able to fulfill its financial obligations and that the company was then not considered to have the ability to handle additional debt. The company has therefore not been considered financially sound as of December 31, 2019. Norwegian's application has therefore been rejected," the authority writes in a press release.
Norwegian, in turn, is critical of the Swedish Debt Office's decision.
”"We find it very strange that Norwegian could not even borrow a couple of hundred million kronor when SAS receives many billions in support. It clearly shows that they do not want healthy competition in Sweden. We meet all the requirements placed on airlines to gain access to government credit guarantees," writes Norwegian's head of communications Charlotte Holmbergh Jacobsson in an email.
”"The strange thing in this context is that Norwegian first got a no, then a yes because it would otherwise be distortive of competition (EU) but then finally a no," she continues.
According to the Swedish Debt Office, the decision cannot be appealed.
In early May, the Swedish Debt Office issued a credit guarantee of SEK 1.5 billion to the airline SAS.
According to the Swedish National Debt Office's website, the guarantee limit for the assignment is SEK 5 billion. So far, the authority has received two applications, of which SAS was granted and Norwegian's was rejected.
Source: di.se
