Brussels, 10/07/2008 (Agence Europe) - After her meeting with the Polish treasury minister on Wednesday 9 July, Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes urged Warsaw to amend plans to restructure the Gdansk, Gdynia and Szczecin shipyards. The Commission above all called for the state share of investment to be reduced compared to the private sector contribution.
“The commissioner had some reservations about the financial construction of the investment”, explained Maciej Wewior, spokesman for the Polish minister, Aleksander Grad. The current proposal provides for private investment of below 50% of the capital, which is only acceptable under certain exceptional conditions that the Commission considers have not been met in the case in hand. A meeting was foreseen on Wednesday evening between the minister and the investors interested to find a new agreement on the levels of private investment required. Investors, namely the Polish subsidiary of the Ukrainian Donbass group, Polish constructor Mostostal Chojnice and the Norwegian company, Ulstein Verft, “may have a little too high expectations for state aid”, a source familiar with the dossier said. The final version of the proposal was to be forwarded to the Commission by midnight on Thursday. If it does not comprise a considerable reduction in the proportion of state aid in the final financial structure, the Commission would have no option but to take a negative decision concerning all the aid granted to the three shipyards since Poland's accession in 2004, said competition spokesman Jonathan Todd. A sum estimated at over €1 billion should then be recovered by the Polish state, which would lead to bankruptcy of the shipyards, observers say. (C.D./transl.jl)