The FINANCIAL — The European Commission will let Poland know on Monday whether it will give the country time until September to complete privatization of the shipyards in Szczecin and Gdynia.
According to unofficial reports, the EU commissioner for competition Neelie Kroes is not in favor of extending the deadline.
The EC spokesman, Jonathan Todd said that the Commission is looking for concrete changes to the plans that had already been sent in and not merely declarations of good will. He also said that Poland was given enough opportunities to find a solution that would guarantee long-term profitability of the shipyards.
If the European Commission rejects presented plans as unsatisfactory the shipyards will have to give back 5 billion zloty or nearly 2.2 billion euros of the state aid subsidies they received after Poland joined the EU since May 2004. This would result in the bankruptcy of the yards which employ nearly 15,000 people.
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