Brussels, 29/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - As briefly announced in yesterday's EUROPE the Commission authorised a restructuring aid by Denmark to the State bus transport company Combus. This aid of 63.7 million (DKK 471 million) was paid in the form of a capital injection, between 1999 and 2001.
In 1997, Combus had won State contracts to mainly service the Copenhagen region. The Danish State intervened in two occasions to avoid the company's bankruptcy, whose price offer was too low to cover its costs. Despite this intervention, the company had to be privatised and was sold to Arriva.
The Commission felt that two thirds of this aid is compatible with the European rules on State aid linked to the operating of public services in the field of transport, and that the remainder of the subsidy corresponds to the criteria set for restructuring aid. It reveals, in its Communiqué that: 1) Combus clearly answers to the definition of company in difficulty; 2) the acquisition of the company by Arriva and the restructuring plan that will be implemented will allow to honour the Combus contracts and avoid any disturbances; 3) the competitors will not feel the unfavourable effects to the extent that all the contracts in question will come to an end in the next five years; 4) the aid is limited to the minimum acceptable to for the buyer and the sale of the company took place while respecting competition.