Poland's historic but debt-laden shipyards may become a prosperous business hub producing things other than ships under radical new restructuring plans, EU competition chief Neelie Kroes quoted as saying.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk's centre-right government has been fighting to stave off bankruptcy for the shipyards, cradle of the anti-communist Solidarity trade union in the 1980s, but Kroes has rejected its own restructuring proposals. The Commission wants the state-controlled yards of Gdynia and Szczecin and the privatized Gdansk yard to repay 2.3 billion euros in illegal state aid, a move that would bankrupt them. EU Competition Commissioner Kroes said her plan would involve selling off the two state-owned yards' assets and using the proceeds to pay back the state aid. "This would provide a fresh start for the shipyards and their employees.New investors would not be burdened with old debts. "They (the new companies) can produce something else. The companies themselves will decide on the issue. The skills of employees of all the shipyards can be used not only for ship building but also in steel construction or similar areas." The yards have not made profit on a single ship built since Poland joined the European Union in 2004 and would have collapsed without state subsidies. Some analysts say the yards could still build ships profitably if better managed.
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