Brussels, 29/05/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 26 May, the European Commission confirmed it had sent an information injunction to the Polish authorities on restructuring the Gdansk shipyards. The Commission is not convinced that takeover of the yard, bought up last October by the Ukrainian operator Donbass, includes the necessary restructuring to prevent competition distortion on the shipbuilding market. “The Commission's patience is becoming very thin”, warned Jonathan Todd, who is spokesman for Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes, asserting that the State aid investigation on the Gdynia, Gdansk and Szczecin shipyards was launched over three years ago (EUROPE 8959), without there being a satisfactory response to any of the three dossiers.
The problem, it is explained at the Polish Ministry of Finance, is that the previous government signed the contract for the sale of the Gdansk shipyard “without settling the issue of State aid”. Donbass therefore received a 75% participation to the yard against an investment of $400 million, without any clear indication as to its obligations in the unresolved question of State aid. Donbass has not yet explained how it plans to restructure the yard to reduce its capacity. Failing restructuring, the Commission has said it would call for the recovery, by the government, of State aid received since Poland joined the EU in May 2004. Warsaw has stressed that aid paid to the Gdansk shipyard does not even make up €10 million. For the three yards together, Mr Todd says that, in 2005, the aid was already more than 5 billion zlotys (€1.5 billion).
Concerning Gdynia and Szczecin, still without a buyer, the Polish authorities must, by end June, notify either the resale and the restructuring of both shipyards, or the reimbursement of aid. “The current administration is doing everything it can to keep to this deadline”, the Polish finance official said. After withdrawal of the offer by the company, Amber, there are apparently still two rival offers on the table for each of the shipyards. “Shipbuilding can be profitable, and trade unions are calling for privatisation”, he adds. But it is not enough to find a buyer, Mr Todd said, adding that it is necessary to “convince the Commission that serious restructuring will be implemented”. (C.D.)