An extraordinary assembly of Croatia Airlines shareholders has been called for December 14, when the shareholders will make a decision on increasing the airline's stock capital by HRK 350 million through a new issue of shares, reads a call published on Thursday.

The shareholders are suggested to increase the company’s equity by HRK 277.88 million to HRK 627.88 million by issuing an additional 35 million ordinary shares in the nominal value of HRK 10 per share.

The increase will be carried out in line with an investment agreement between the Republic of Croatia and Croatia Airlines (CA).

Existing shareholders do not have the pre-emptive right, except for the Republic of Croatia, which will participate in the issue as an investor.

The purpose of the rights issue is to restore the state of the company’s capital and reserves to the level that existed before the coronavirus pandemic, on 31 December 2019.

It is also a measure of financial assistance by the state based on a European Commission document on state aid to the business sector in the current pandemic.

In the first nine months of this year CA reported a net loss of HRK 243.5 million.

(1€ = 7.56 kuna)