Brussels, 29/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - Following a formal investigation procedure the European Commission has decided that a management service contract between the German Treuhand-successor BvS (Bundesanstalt für vereinigungsbedingte Sonderaufgaben), its 100% subsidiary Stahl Gröditz and steelmaker Georgsmarienhütte does not contain state aid. Gröditzer was privatised to Georgsmarienhütte from 1997 till mid-1999. In July 1999 the Commission adopted a negative decision ordering recovery of around DEM 240 million from Gröditzer. Georgsmarienhütte then withdrew from the privatisation agreement and Gröditzer was taken back by the BvS. At the same time the BvS and Gröditzer entered in a management service contract with Georgsmarienhütte. The latter would manage Gröditzer for a management fee of some 2.5 million DEM per year. Gröditzer filed for insolvency in September 1999. The Commission came to the conclusion that when it signed the contract, Gröditzer was already on the verge of bankruptcy and doubted whether a private investor would have agreed to pay commission charges that were ten times higher than before, which would constitute disguised state aid. The Commission therefore assessed the total remuneration of Georgsmarienhütte under the management contract and came to the conclusion that the total fee did not exceed the remuneration of alternative interim management's for companies in a similar situation. "By also taking into account the specific circumstances at the time when the contract was concluded the Commission came to the conclusion that the management contract did not contain state aid."