Brussels, 09/01/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 8 January 2013, the Finnish government announced that it has asked the European Commission to investigate whether the STX France shipyard at St Nazaire in France has been given illegal state aid by France for the building of a cruise ship to the detriment of its competitor STX Finland (Turku), another subsidiary of the Korean company STX Shipbuilding. The Finnish economy minister, Jan Vapaavuori, said that the South Korean company had asked Finland for a €50 million loan in return for the contract going to the Turku shipyard, but the government had only been able to provide €28 million under EU competition rules.
Vapaavuori is therefore concerned that the French government (which holds a 33% stake in STX France) might have provided extra aid to ensure the struggling French shipyard got the contract, which will ensure it stays in business until at least 2016 (an option on a second cruise ship to be delivered in 2018 has also been taken). French prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said that the French government had been in close contact with STX recently and the economy minister, Pierre Moscovici, said that the government had pulled out the stops to save the shipyards on the Atlantic coast without breaking EU rules. (FG/transl.fl)