OREANDA-NEWS. Aeroflot only needs 39,9% of Italian airline Alitalia and considers it excessive to buy the entire government stake in the airline, Mikhail Poluboyarinov, Aeroflot's general director for finance and planning.

The Italian government owns 49,9% of Alitalia. It is planning to privatize at least 39,9% of this stake by the end of June. A consortium of Aeroflot-Unicredit has submitted a bid to acquire 39,9% of Alitalia. "39,9% will make it possible to have a majority on the board of directors. There's no reason to waste money for another 10%," Poluboyarinov said.