Brussels, 27/10/2010 (Agence Europe) - Following an investigation opened on 29 April 2009, the European Commission concluded on Wednesday 27 October 2010 that Hungarian fertiliser manufacturer Péti Nitrogénmûvek must pay back some of the state aid it was granted in 2009 to help it recover from the economic crisis.
The amount to be recovered is the Hungarian state guarantees covering around €52 million of investment and €35 million in aid granted in 2009 by the Hungarian Development Bank, MFB. Although it found in the investigation that the aid provided a selective advantage to the company and was therefore state aid in the light of the company's problems accessing credit, it was nevertheless found to be compatible with the EU temporary rules on state aid for companies suffering from the economic crisis.
As the remuneration paid by Nitrogénmûvek for the state financing package is too low, the Commission concluded that the measures comply only partly with the Temporary Framework and, therefore, with EU rules. The difference between the remuneration that Nitrogénmûvek should have paid according to the Temporary Framework and the remuneration it actually paid to the Hungarian authorities must be repaid by the company. The exact recovery amount has to be calculated by the Hungarian authorities.
Other state aid decisions
Other decisions taken on 27 October 2010 on state aid cover the opening of detailed investigations in:
Greece over aid for fabric manufacturer United Textiles S.A. and its lending banks. The Commission must ensure that the series of state aid for the company since 2007 comply with EU state aid guidelines for bailing out and restructuring companies, and must check whether the banks that lent the company money received unfair benefits as a result of the state aid.
Portugal over state aid schemes for export lending and domestic trade set up in January 2009. The system gives free state coverage to companies which have already subscribed to partial coverage from a private insurance company. Under the system, the state may cover up to 100% of the amount covered by the private insurer at 60% of the private insurer's price. The Commission's investigation will determine whether these low rates are appropriate for dealing with potential shortages on the private market, or whether higher rates that would create less distortion of competition would suffice.
Sweden to decide whether the municipality of Vänersborg sold a food processing plant to real estate corporation Hammar Nordic Plugg AB at less than its market value, amounting therefore to a hidden subsidy. The municipality bought the plant in 2008 for €1.7 million but sold it a few months later to Hammar for only €800,000 euros, and Hammar then sold it off for the princely sum of €4 million, making €3.2 million in profit.
Germany to decide whether the building of a new waste water treatment plant and other environmental infrastructure by the German state (a road, a car park and extending a canal) conferred a selective advantage on the Propapier paper company in Eisenhûttenstadt (Brandenburg) compared with its competitors.
Finally, the Commission authorised state aid for a carbon capture and storage (CSC) demonstration project in the Netherlands. The Dutch state has granted €150 in aid to a joint venture owned by E.ON and GDF Suez to build a CO2 capture plant in the port of Rotterdam of 250 MW, capable of capturing 1.1 million tonnes of CO2 a year. The captured CO2 will be sent by pipeline to be stored in an old gas field under the North Sea. The Commission believes that the benefits of the project outweigh its negative impact on competition because it will help achieve environmental objectives of European interest under the energy and climate package for 2020. Without the state aid, the project would not be carried out in time to meet the 2020 deadline. The project has also been given €180 million by the European Energy Programme for Recovery. (F.G. trans fl)