Brussels, 16/06/2008 (Agence Europe) - European Commissioner for Competition Neelie Kroes was not convinced by the plans presented to her by the Polish treasury minister at their meeting on Friday 13 June (EUROPE 9680). Aleksander Grad came to Brussels to present a proposal on the resale conditions for the Gdynia shipyard. In a press release on the same day, however, the commissioner expressed “serious doubts that the joint plan for Gdynia and Gdansk presented today complies with the requirements of EC state aid rules”. Warsaw must now present a revised version of its proposal before 26 June if it wants to avoid being compelled to recover estimated state aid paid to the Gydnia and Szczecin shipyards of more than €1bn.
The press statement explains that in order to comply with this regulation, shipyard restructuring should: 1) ensure the long-term profitability of the shipyards; 2) include adequate compensatory measures to limit the distortion of competition caused by the aid and 3) be financed to a great extent from the companies' own resources. Last Friday, Minister Grad presented the possibility of ISD Polska (owned by the Ukrainian Donbass group) acquiring Gdynia. Donbass has already taken over the Gdansk shipyard. Maciej Wewiór, the minister's spokesman, explained that “there might be a reduction in production capacity but it's a matter of how much and when”. The Commission argues that capacity reduction is indispensable if it is to approve restructuring. In its press release, it drew attention to German shipyards, which experienced a “painful” reduction in their capacity in the 1990s but which are now profitable.
Experts close to the dossier believe that Donbass might try and get the Commission to agree to reducing production at Gdynia but maintaining full capacity at Gdansk for a few years until profitability at Gdynia is re-established. The Gdansk shipyard was sold to Donbass by the state without restructuring conditions being imposed: this operation is also being studied by the Commission, which is demanding clarification by the Polish authorities before the end of June. The spokesperson confirmed that according to the specialist press, several buyers were interested in the third shipyard at Szczecin, including the Norwegian Aker Yards shipbuilders. He also said that sales and restructuring conditions were being worked out. (C.D./transl.rh.)