Italy Must Recover EUR84 Million From Steelmaker Ilva in European Commission Ruling
21 Dicembre 2017 - 2:00PM
Dow Jones News
By Pietro Lombardi
Italy must recover about 84 million euros ($99.6 million) from
Italian steelmaker Ilva after an investigation determined the
company received illegal state aid, the European Commission said
Thursday.
The investigation, which began in January 2016 after European
authorities received several complaints from Ilva competitors,
focused on five measures. Two of these--loans Italy granted Ilva in
2015--violated European Union rules on state aid, the commission
said.
Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said the loans gave Ilva "an
undue advantage to finance its current operations."
The EUR84 million represents the difference between financing
terms Ilva received from the government and appropriate market
terms.
The commission didn't take issue, however, with the more-than
EUR1.1 billion transferred from the owners of Ilva to the company
in June, to be used to tackle pollution at the Taranto plant.
The decision on aid "does not interfere with the sales process
of Ilva assets, in relation to which a separate commission
investigation is ongoing under EU merger rules," the commission
said.
Italy is in the process of selling Ilva assets to a consortium
led by ArcelorMittal.
"The best guarantee for a sustainable future of steel production
in the Taranto region is the sale of Ilva's assets at market
terms," Ms. Vestager said, adding that the company "cannot rely on
artificial State support."
Write to Pietro Lombardi at pietro.lombardi@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 21, 2017 07:45 ET (12:45 GMT)
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