More Turmoil At Brazil's Varig

More Turmoil At Brazil’s Varig :

The chief executive of Brazil’s loss-making airline Varig is reported by local media to have resigned, raising questions over a planned merger with the country’s other major carrier TAM.

Manuel Guedes has only recently been put in charge of the merger negotiations which were formerly being handled by the airline’s major stock holders, the Ruben Berta Foundation.

Varig, the country’s largest carrier, announced its intention to merge with the smaller TAM in February in an effort to solve its financial problems. It is hoping to complete the tie-up over six months and the two carriers are already code-sharing on domestic routes.

This latest boardroom upheaval is one of a series in the Rio de Janeiro-based airline’s troubled recent history. Last November, the entire board resigned over the carrier’s USD$900 million debt and its then chairman, Amin Lore, left after only three months in the post.

Mr Lore’s departure came after the majority shareholder, Ruben Berta Foundation, which is a non-profit making body, threw out a deal with Brazil’s development bank to renegotiate the airline’s debt.
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link: http://news.airwise.com/display/story.html?name=2003/04/1050579763.html