Warsaw (Puls Biznesu) – Brussels has doubts over the privatization of Polish shipyards, some potential investors withdraw.
Yesterday, Piotr Wozniak, the Minister of Economy, talked to the representatives of European Commission over the restructuring of Polish shipyards. EU has doubts over public subsidies estimated at PLN 15.6-16 billion (EUR 4.1-4.2 billion). EU withholds from demanding to pay back part of the subsidies but has one condition: the shipyards must be profitable. It also doubts whether investors will buy Polish shipyards.
The latter get fed up with waiting for the Polish government to make any decisions. On December 6th, the offer of Rami Ungar, the potential investor in Stocznia Gdynia, expired.
“He decided that although his program provided for PLN 2 billion, he was not welcome and told us he would not prolong his offer”, Dariusz Adamski, the head of Solidarnosc trade union in Stocznia Gdynia said.
Ukrainian Donbas assures that it is still interested in the Polish shipyard. However, Pawel Poncyljusz, the deputy Minister of the Treasure, said that privatization is on the agenda but added that ARP agency is going to be the major shareholder of Stocznia Gdansk. ARP is a state-owned agency, however.
(PLN 1 = EUR 0.261)