On Sunday, new Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico announced plans to suspend the sale of Bratislava and Kosice Airports to Austrian company Flughafen Wien.
The Austrian airport operator, which among others runs the Vienna International Airport, signed earlier this year an agreement entitling it to 66 per cent of the shares in the two airports. The deal was a milestone in the companys growth strategy.
At the time, Fico and his party Smer strongly objected to the deal as it viewed it as one barring competition. The two airports are just 50 km away. Fico told Sunday the news television channel TA3, "It was a big mistake to sign it, and we will not hesitate, if it is possible, to cancel this contract so that the airports belong to Slovak Republic."
"The airports have not been technically taken over yet, the boards are still in state hands," Fico said. "The contract is signed, but it still does not have the decision of the Slovak antimonopoly bureau."
The Slovak competition body said it would rule on the sale by August 14. Austrias competition authority cleared the deal in April.