The trade union of air stewards, aircraft mechanics, and pilots of AeroSvit Airline will picket the Presidential Administration of Ukraine on Tuesday, January 22.
A posting on the Web site of the Confederation of Free Trade Unions
of Ukraine reads that the employees of the airline will demand that
their workplaces be preserved and will protest against the violation of
their labor rights.
The picket will be held from 1100 until 1400 on January 22.
The participants of the picket will call on the president, as the
guarantor of the constitution, to stop driving AeroSvit Airline into
artificial bankruptcy, as well as prevent its illegal reorganization and
mass layoffs of the company’s employees. They will also demand that
multimillion wage arrears and debts for the payment of daily allowances
to the cabin crews of the airline be repaid, and that employee’s
lawsuits against the airline on wage arrears be considered transparently
and legally.
The statement also reads that the protesters will demand that those
guilty of bringing about the airline’s bankruptcy be punished according
to Article 219 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (forcing a company into
bankruptcy). They will also demand the resignation of the prosecutor of
Kyiv region, the head of the State Aviation Service of Ukraine, and the
legalization of transport strikes.
As reported, the economic court in Kyiv region, after considering an
application from private joint-stock company AeroSvit Airline, on
December 29, 2012 commenced proceedings on the bankruptcy case. The case
will be heard on January 23, 2013.
According to a ruling published in the single ruling register, the
court also ruled to introduce a property management procedure for the
airline, and appointed arbitration manager Leonid Talan as its property
manager.
The ruling says that as of December 27, 2012, the airline had a debt
of Hr 4.27 billion to its creditors. According to the balance sheet as
of September 30, 2012, the total assets of AeroSvit stood at Hr 1.467
billion.
The airline later said that the submission of the claim was made as a
part of its restructuring to launch a readjustment procedure, restore
the airline’s solvency and ensure the fulfillment of its liabilities to
creditors.
AeroSvit also said that the airline was not stopping its operations
and it would continue fulfilling its current liabilities to contractors.
AeroSvit was created in 1994. It is based at Boryspil airport in
Kyiv. It previously served 80 international destinations in 34
countries, and provided services to the largest cities of Ukraine. Its
fleet consisted of 28 Boeing aircraft, including 20 medium-range Boeing
737s and eight long-haul Boeing 767s. In addition to that, it operated
Airbus 320, Airbus 321, Embraer 145, Embraer 190, and ATR-72 aircraft.
