On Monday 15 May, the European Commission announced that it had examined the measures in favour of RUCH, a chain of shops whose activities include press distribution in Poland, under Article 107(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, and found that they did not constitute State aid.
One of RUCH’s competitors complained to the Commission in 2019 after RUCH, which had been in difficulty since 2012, received, among other things, liquidity support of around €58.9 million from three companies in which the Polish State holds shares.
Following a court-supervised restructuring procedure, RUCH received a guarantee, extended financing and debt write-off provided by Alior Bank, a guarantee from the Polish insurance group PZU and various agreements concluded with the fuel refining and distribution company Polski Koncern Naftowy Orlen, including an agreement for the acquisition of RUCH by PKN Orlen.
The Commission found that the three companies were majority privately-owned entities and that there was insufficient evidence to show that the Polish State was directly or indirectly involved in the companies’ decisions to take part in the restructuring process of RUCH.
The Commission concluded that the measures from which RUCH had benefited had not conferred a selective economic advantage on this company. (Original version in French by Émilie Vanderhulst)