Post by Jaga on Jul 16, 2008 23:16:55 GMT -7
Poland won extra time Wednesday to come up with plans for its faltering shipyards that comply with the European Union’s state aid rules.
Brussels formally concluded that proposals put forward to date are not adequate, but said it could not ”exclude that recent expressions of interest from private investors could lead to an acceptable solution within a short space of time”.
Accordingly, the European Commission postponed a final decision on the matter and gave the Polish government until September 12 to produce acceptable plans for Szczecin and Gdynia yards, and until the end of the September for Gdansk.
The yards have received several billion euros of aid, which, if deemed illegal, would have to be repaid. If the cash-strapped operations were forced to hand back even a portion of that they would probably have to declare bankruptcy.
Poland has repeatedly pleaded for more time, and yesterday’s announcement followed an eleventh-hour phone conversation between Donald Tusk, the country’s prime minister, and Jose Manuel Barroso, the Commission president. However, commission officials have stressed that the issue has been under discussion for four years and patience is wearing extremely thin.
www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ec571252-534d-11dd-8dd2-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1
Brussels formally concluded that proposals put forward to date are not adequate, but said it could not ”exclude that recent expressions of interest from private investors could lead to an acceptable solution within a short space of time”.
Accordingly, the European Commission postponed a final decision on the matter and gave the Polish government until September 12 to produce acceptable plans for Szczecin and Gdynia yards, and until the end of the September for Gdansk.
The yards have received several billion euros of aid, which, if deemed illegal, would have to be repaid. If the cash-strapped operations were forced to hand back even a portion of that they would probably have to declare bankruptcy.
Poland has repeatedly pleaded for more time, and yesterday’s announcement followed an eleventh-hour phone conversation between Donald Tusk, the country’s prime minister, and Jose Manuel Barroso, the Commission president. However, commission officials have stressed that the issue has been under discussion for four years and patience is wearing extremely thin.
www.ft.com/cms/s/0/ec571252-534d-11dd-8dd2-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1