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Post by justjohn on Oct 18, 2008 4:29:19 GMT -7
BBC NEWS EU plans Polish shipyard sell-off The European Commission has put forward a new plan to sell off Poland's ailing shipyards, which are threatened with bankruptcy in a dispute over state aid. The state-owned, communist-era Gdynia and Szczecin shipyards could face a crippling bill of 2.3bn euros (£1.8bn; $3bn) under EU rules on state aid. The commission now wants to sell the shipyards' assets to pay off the state aid, paving the way for new investment. Workers in the nearby Gdansk shipyard led Poland's anti-communist struggle. The Gdansk yard is now in the hands of a Ukrainian investor, Industrial Union of Donbass (ISD). Tens of thousands of jobs could go if Poland's shipyards are not rescued. Competition commissioner Neelie Kroes said the Gdynia and Szczecin shipyards' assets could be sold off, leaving a shell company that would then be liquidated. A new investor would not have the burden of having to pay back state aid and could make a "fresh start", she told the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza. She suggested the yards could be converted to produce something else. Last month the Polish government presented its own restructuring plan, under which ISD would buy the Gdynia yard and the Szczecin yard would go to a Norwegian-Polish consortium. But both investors are seeking more state subsidies, risking rejection by the commission. Story from BBC NEWS: news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/7676667.stmPublished: 2008/10/17 15:29:17 GMT
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Post by Jaga on Oct 18, 2008 16:30:04 GMT -7
This is probably a practical solution, although quite sad
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Post by Jaga on Nov 8, 2008 19:45:37 GMT -7
here is the recent update about it: European Union regulators approved plans to sell Poland's two state-owned shipyards yesterday, ending a long-running dispute over EU charges of unlawful state aid. The EU ordered Polish authorities to recover subsidies pumped into the ailing Szczecin and Gdynia yards that were in the forefront of the country's struggle against Communism in the 1980s. Poland has until the end of May to sell the assets in an auction, the European Commission said in a statement. The shipyards, which employ thousands of workers, are currently kept in business only by hefty government subsidies, which have totalled 3.3 billion euros since 2002. www.thestar.com/Business/article/532355
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