November 22, 2008

EU orders Greece to recover aid from Hellenic shipyard

AFP reported that the European Commission told Greece to recover more than EUR 230 million in what it considered to be illegal state aid from Hellenic Shipyards.

The commission said that some loans, guarantees and capital injections granted to the shipyard between 1996 and 2002 when it was in dire straits failed to meet EU state aid rules.

Ms Neelie Kroes EU Competition Commissioner said that "Greece has repeatedly provided unlawful and incompatible financing to the loss making civil activities of the yard until 2002. The illegal aid must now be recovered.”

The shipyard was privatized in 2002 and has since become part of German steel group ThyssenKrupp.

As Europe's top competition watchdog, the commission is responsible for policing state aid in the European Union, which must respect the bloc's tough rules.