Poland submits shipyard plan
Poland submitted restructuring plans aimed at saving its historic Baltic shipyards to the European Commission on Friday, in compliance with an EU-imposed deadline.
"The commission will now analyze the plans carefully over the coming weeks to assess the compatibility of the plans with the requirements of EC Treaty state aid rules," the EU executive said. If the commission, the European Union's executive body, rejects the plans, the three yards will have to repay state aid totalling more than 2.3 billion euros (US$3.22 billion), forcing them into bankruptcy.
"I think the analysis of these documents will take some time, but we need to get an answer by October because the uncertainty is killing the yards," Polish Treasury Minister Aleksander Grad said.
State-owned Gdynia and Szczecin and the privatized Gdansk yards employ about 15,000 workers but officials say as many as 60,000 jobs could be at risk overall.