Employees of Ivanovo Airlines have received their layoff notice

Published: 4/25/2000

After several years of struggling for survival, 250 employees of Ivanovo Airlines (IGAP) have finally received their layoff notice. The bankrupt airport and carrier, based in Ivanovo, has been operating under a final six-month extension to the external administration, imposed in August 1998 and led by temporary manager V. Filatov, since November 1999. In February this year, the creditors" meeting concluded that although the wage arrears were completely cleared for the period prior to February 2000 and that all the infrastructure and systems necessary for the airport"s operation remained operable, the company was not solvent and not likely to become so. From the two options available – liquidation or sale – the meeting voted for the latter with Filatov again elected as temporary manager. The meeting also agreed to create a new entity, OOO Zolotaya Os (Gold Axis), which will receive part of the assets of IGAP, with a potential investor being sought. The arbitration on 3rd April also passed a decision that leaves the creditors with some hope of eventually getting some money from the sale of the remaining assets. However, the employees of IGAP have shown little enthusiasm for the arbitration findings. The trade union chairman of IGAP, T. Lazareva, has said that the new entity is only planning to hire 140 of the 250 employees, who will be selected on the basis of “loyalty". Filatov"s response has been that employees have long known that IGAP has had a surplus working force and that the new company would not be able to keep additional staff on the payroll. www.concise.org 22nd November 1999: Ivanovo Airlines gets another six months under bankruptcy

Article ID: 1573