The airBaltic supervisory board has not made any decision about compensation payments for the airline’s dismissed long-time CEO Martin Gauss, and this issue is not even on the agenda at present, said Andrejs Martinovs, the interim chairman of the company’s supervisory board, in an interview with Latvian Radio’s “Pusdiena” program April 8.
Meanwhile, the next CEO of the national airline will be sought in an international competition, and the main criterion will be professionalism, he said.
He did not directly answer whether Gauss was expected to sue the company over his manner of dismissal, but indicated that Gauss had received the news in a balanced manner, and that any professional company manager or board member should be prepared to be removed from office.
The supervisory board, which is responsible for these issues, has not decided on any compensation payments, and there are currently no plans to include this issue on the council’s agenda, Martinovs said.
The next head of airBaltic will be sought in accordance with government regulations on the appointment of heads of state-owned capital companies, and “it will certainly take place internationally, because airBaltic is an international business and aviation is an international business. Of course, only professional qualities will be assessed, nothing else,” emphasized Martinovs.
It has not yet been decided whether the new company manager will be offered a lower salary than the 800,000 euros per year that Gauss pocketed.
The new CEO will have to move towards previously set goals, including airBaltic’s much-touted but still unconfirmed IPO. Martinovs noted that the company’s IPO will depend on several factors, but “at the moment I don’t see anyone who would rule out this possibility.”
When asked whether the timing was right for Gauss’ dismissal and whether it would not affect attracting investors, Martinovs said that he currently does not see any particular negative impact on everything that is happening with airBaltic.
Meanwhile, Andris Grafs, vice president of the Baltic Institute of Corporate Governance, said in an interview with Latvian Radio about the future of airBaltic that the path to an IPO (the initial public offering of a company’s shares on the stock exchange) is currently essentially on hold because there is no CEO. There are also questions about the political influence involved in the decision, he suggested.
airBaltic’s recently-announced strategic investor Lufthansa declined to comment on the affair to Latvian Television.
However, LTV said it had information that Lufthansa was surprised by the move to oust Gauss. The strategic investor agreement between airBaltic and Lufthansa has not yet been concluded, as it is being reviewed by the German Federal Cartel Office.
For his part, Gauss told Latvian Television that the way his dismissal was announced was similar to scenes seen in countries east of Latvia, as he was chased away like a dog. It was a big surprise to him when the agenda of the shareholder meeting where annual financial figures were due to be approved included an item on his dismissal, he said.
Gauss said that despite the move by the company’s largest shareholder, he remains interested in the company’s development and growth having spent 13 years of his life on trying to grow the company.
He also noted that this was the worst time to do what the state shareholder did, because the company is preparing to go public and the industry now needs to justify how such a change of leadership will help the company.
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