MALEV FINANCING UNDER INVESTIGATION

The European Commission has opened a formal investigation in to Malev’s financing. The Hungarian airline is suspected of receiving illegal state aid by its Government in the form of capital injections and shareholder loans. “In particular, the Commission has doubts that Malev would have been able to obtain financing from the market on the terms conceded by the Hungarian authorities,” it says. The Commission is investigating a loan the government took over to Malev in 2007 and a capital increase in February this year, shareholder loans in April-July which were converted into shares in the airline, and capital increases and