Minister calls on Bettel to take charge of Cargolux investor negotiations

(CS) Negotiations for a Chinese group of investors to become a Cargolux shareholder should not be neglected, Infrastructure Minister Claude Wiseler has warned as coalition talks began Tuesday morning.

With the new parliament not yet in session and the CSV-LSAP government only in charge of basic current affairs until the new coalition is installed, Wiseler has reportedly called on “formateur” Xavier Bettel to take charge.

Reports on negotiations between Luxembourg freight airline Cargolux and Chinese investor group HNCA first surfaced in September.

However, the 215 million USD deal is far from sealed, as part of the Cargolux management has called for more independence, while at the same time the company needs a new shareholder to take over from Qatar Airways, which had left the airline in November last year.

The Luxembourg state had bought the 35 percent share dropped by the Qatari airline; however, this move had always been announced as a temporary measure.

An important board meeting was in the meantime cancelled because of snap elections and the change in government.

Minister Wiseler told RTL that the matter was urgent, but that he cannot make any decisions without the three prospective coalition parties, which officially entered coalition talks on Tuesday.

He has therefore contacted Luxembourg City mayor Xavier Bettel, who is officially in charge of putting together the new government, in order to alert him to the situation. Wiseler has offered Bettel his full support to bring the negotiations to a satisfactory conclusion.