Brussels, 16/07/2008 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 16 July 2008, the European Commission granted a deadline of almost two months to the Polish authorities to present a restructuring plan for the Gdynia and Szczecin shipyards, which meet the demands contained in Community rules on state aid. The spokesman for Competition Commissioner, Neelie Kroes, stated that Warsaw was due to present a restructuring project before 12 September, which “will ensure the long-term viability of the yard; will ensure that there is a sufficient level of private investment; and will keep to the minimum necessary the levels of state aid involved”.
The spokesman stressed that the proposals received so far did not meet any of the criteria and added that “unless the shortcomings are addressed by the new restructuring plans, then the Commission would have no option but to adopt a negative decision”. This decision would order the recovery of more than €2bn granted by the Polish state to the yards. Newspaper reports point out that the Commission had planned on taking the final decision this week and the spokesman affirmed that, “compared to four years, two months is not a great deal to concede”.
He confirmed that on Wednesday they had received “assurances from the highest political level in Poland that they are now going to pull out all the stops…And do everything in their power” to provide an acceptable plan with new deadlines. This refers to a telephone conversation the day before between the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, and the Commission president, José Manuel Barroso.
The problem resides in the proportion of state investment, which the Commission refuses to allow above 50% of the capital, to the consternation of private investors. The spokesperson explained: “We think that there is justification for giving the Polish authorities that little bit extra time to try to bring the private investors on board”. He also added that the new deadline only applied to the Gdynia and Szczecin shipyards. Gdansk is already privatised and is the subject of a different case for which the Commission is expecting additional information before the end of September. Nevertheless, if a joint Gdynia -Gdansk restructuring plan is submitted, which is likely, the deadline for the submission could be changed to 12 September.
The minister for the Polish treasury pointed out that the previous administration did not believe it useful to submit the Gdansk yard to a contractual restructuring obligation during its takeover by the IDS Polska investor (Polish subsidiary of the Ukrainian Donbass group). Boguslaw Liberadzki MEP (Socialist, Poland) affirmed in a press statement that “the position of the Commission on the subject of the yards was known by the previous and current Polish governments”. He said that the authorities could have prevented the recovery of aid by presenting a restructuring plan that complied with the Community law of 2007. Mr Liberadzki welcomed the extension but said that it was not a solution in itself to the problems or risks, especially those involving the continued activities of the yards. He also stated that “this period should be used in an effective manner”. (C.D./transl.rh)