Business
Ariana Afghan Airlines faces financial crisis as COVID-19 looms
As per some pieces of evidence received by Ariana News, Ariana Afghan Airlines has fired 40% of its employees while decrementing the payrolls for the remaining employees up to 30%.
Some members of parliament criticize Ariana Afghan Airlines for firing its employees considering it an illegal act. They urge the government to financially support this service company and save jobs.
The COVID-19 has wilted the only governmental airline company in Afghanistan.
The CEO of Ariana Afghan Airlines said that just in the first three months of 2020, the company had suffered a loss of seven million USD due to limited flights and that now efforts were underway to make up for the loss.
Ariana News has received some shreds of evidence which show that the Ariana Afghan Airlines has decided to fire 40% of its employees as well as to decrement the salaries of the remaining employees up to 30%.
Alem Shah Ibrahimi, the CEO of Ariana Afghan Airlines, said, “We terminating our employees because we have walked into financial crisis, and we will pay others at least 30% of their salaries. We have to manage the crisis and not let the company go bankrupt.”
Some legal bodies believe that the financial crisis cannot justify firing employees, especially when COVID-19 has hit people financially.
The evidence shows that Ariana Afghan Airline suggests allocating six million dollars to establish Bakhtar Airlines, although the airline is suffering from the crisis.
Therefore, the authorities have come under criticism for not financially supporting the almost bankrupt Ariana Afghan Airlines, and instead, are trying to establish another airline company.
Although Ariana Afghan Airlines is going through its hard time, with having 40% of its workers sacked, it still conducts domestic flights transporting service workers – meaning, it could be making money.
Moreover, the airline is trying to help import important goods from other countries to Afghanistan.
The government is expected to financially support the service and private businesses to help overcome the crisis derived from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The press office of the Herat governor has announced the export of Afghanistan’s first shipment via the Khaf-Herat railway to Europe.
According to a statement from the office, the shipment includes 200 tons of dried fruits worth $1.2 million, which were exported to Turkey and Europe through the Khaf-Herat railway in the presence of Islam Jar, the governor of this province, and the Iranian Consul General.
The exported dried fruits in this shipment include pistachios, raisins, almonds, and pine nuts.
The statement added that over the past three months, more than 35,000 tons of goods have been transferred via the Khaf-Herat railway.
Business
Russia’s LPG exports to Afghanistan boom as Europe shuns it
The exports to Afghanistan, the main consumer of Russia’s LPG in the region, rose by 52% for the period to 71,000 tons.
Russia’s exports of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to Afghanistan and ex-Soviet states in Central Asia have jumped following introduction of European Union sanctions against Moscow at the end of 2024, industry sources said on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
The European Union’s sanctions against Russia’s LPG over the war in Ukraine took effect on December 20. The restrictions were proposed last year by Poland, one of Russia’s largest LPG importers.
LPG, or propane and butane, is mainly used as fuel for cars, heating and to produce other petrochemicals.
According to the industry sources, railway supplies of LPG from Russia’s plants, including the Kazrosgas joint venture with Kazakhstan, jumped to the region by 80% year on year in January – February to 140,000 metric tons, read the report.
The exports to Afghanistan, the main consumer of Russia’s LPG in the region, rose by 52% for the period to 71,000 tons.
Traders expect great scope for more supplies to Afghanistan, where annual demand for LPG is seen at around 700,000 tons per year.
Acting Minister of Industry and Commerce Nooruddin Azizi and Zhao Xing, the Chinese Ambassador to Kabul, met on Tuesday and discussed increasing Afghanistan’s exports to China, particularly pine nuts, pomegranates, and precious and semi-precious stones such as nephrite, onyx, lapis lazuli, and talc, the ministry said in a statement.
According to the statement the goal of the meeting was to facilitate direct exports to China in order to reduce transit costs and transportation of Afghan goods, as well as to address the importation of machinery needed for the country.
Azizi and Zhao have agreed to establish a joint working group for further coordination, expanding trade relations, and creating facilities for trade, with the aim of holding regular meetings, the statement read.
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