Vosganian said the European Commission’s respond to the issue involving state aid to Oltchim will not come very soon, because notifications regarding state aid usually take time to solve and the Economy Ministry cannot put pressure on the Commission to tackle the issue faster. He added the Commission must check, among others, whether Oltchim received state aid in the fall of 2012.
The minister went on saying he has recently requested EU Commissioner for Competition Joaquin Almunia to approve a EUR45 million state aid to Oltchim. He added the Commission subsequently asked for additional information from 2007 regarding the relations between Oltchim and some of its commercial partners, such as AVAS or Electrica.
Oltchim is currently undergoing insolvency and running at 15% capacity.
The company is controlled by the Economy Ministry with a 54.8% stake. According to a document presented by the government in January, the company had debts of over EUR800 million at the end of 2012. The government failed to privatize Oltchim in October last year.