2009/610/EC: Commission Decision of 2 July 2008 on the measures C 16/04 (ex NN 29/04, CP 71/02 and CP 133/05) implemented by Greece in favour of Hellenic Shipyards (notified under document C(2008) 3118) (Text with EEA relevance)
The aid in favour of the investment expenses which were incurred by HSY before 31 December 2001 and which were related to the investment programme described in Commission decision of 15 July 1997 concerning the case N 401/97 (this measure was named ‘measure P1’ in the preamble of the present decision) falls within the scope of the Commission decision of 15 July 1997.
Any aid in favour of the other investment expenses incurred by HSY — and in particular the investment expenses incurred after 31 December 2001 — does not fall within the scope of the decision of 15 July 1997 and is incompatible with the common market.
The guarantee which Greece granted to ETVA by decision of 8 December 1999 and which covers a loan of GRD 4,67 billion (EUR 13,72 million) granted by ETVA to HSY (this measure was named ‘measure P2’ in the preamble of the present decision) constitutes aid, which has been put into effect in contravention of Article 88(3) of the Treaty and which is incompatible with the common market.
If the guarantee is still outstanding at the date of the present decision, the State guarantee has to be stopped immediately. In addition, aid has to be recovered for the period running from the pay-out of the guaranteed loan to HSY until the expiration of the guarantee.
The aid to recover amounts to the difference between the reference rate of Greece increased by 600 basis points and the total cost of the guaranteed loan (interest rate plus guarantee premium paid by HSY).
The loan amounting to GRD 1,56 billion (EUR 4,58 million) which was granted in July 1999 by ETVA to HSY and was reimbursed in 2004 (this measure was named ‘measure P3’ in the preamble of the present decision) constitutes aid, which has been put into effect in contravention of Article 88(3) of the EC Treaty and which is incompatible with the common market.
For the period from the pay-out of the loan to HSY until its reimbursement, the aid to recover amounts to the difference between the reference rate of Greece increased by 600 basis points and the interest rate of the loan.
The 2-year loan amounting to EUR 13,75 million which was concluded on 31 May 2002 between ETVA and HSY and was never paid out to HSY (this measure was named ‘measure P4’ in the preamble of the present decision) does not constitute aid.
The aid amounting to GRD 54 billion (EUR 160 million) which was authorised by Commission decision of 15 July 1997 regarding the State aid case C 10/94 (this measure was named ‘measure E7’ in the preamble of the present decision) has been misused and must be recovered.
The aid amounting to EUR 29,5 million which was authorised by Commission decision of 5 June 2002 concerning the case N 513/01 (this measure was named ‘measure E8’ in the preamble of the present decision) has been misused and must be recovered.
75 % of the injection of capital amounting to GRD 8,72 billion (EUR 25,6 million) made by ETVA into HSY during the years 1996 and 1997 (this measure was named ‘measure E9’ in the preamble of the present decision) is covered by Article 296 of the Treaty. The remaining 25 % constitutes aid, which has been put into effect in contravention of Article 88(3) of the Treaty and which is compatible with the common market.
The injection of capital amounting to GRD 800 million (EUR 2,3 million) made by ETVA into HSY on 20 May 1998 (this capital increase, as well as the two following ones, were named ‘measure E10’ in the preamble of the present decision) does not constitute aid.
The injections of capital amounting to GRD 321 million (EUR 0,9 million) and to GRD 397 million (EUR 1,2 million) made by ETVA into HSY respectively on 24 June 1999 and on 22 May 2000 constitute aid, which has been put into effect in contravention of Article 88(3) of the Treaty and which is incompatible with the common market. This aid must be recovered.
The counter guarantees granted by the State to ETVA to guarantee the guarantees that ETVA had issued in the framework of contracts that HSY concluded with Hellenic Railway Organization (OSE) and with Athens-Piraeus Electric Railways (ISAP) (these measures were named ‘measure E12b’ in the preamble of the present decision) constitute aid, which has been put into effect in contravention of Article 88(3) of the EC Treaty and which is incompatible with the common market.
In the case of the counter guarantees related to the ISAP contracts, the aid amounts to the difference between an annual fee of 480 basis points (i.e. 4,8 %) and the premiums actually paid by HSY (i.e. the guarantee premium paid to ETVA plus the guarantee premium paid to the State). This aid has to be recovered for the period until the State counter guarantees expired.
In the case of the counter guarantees related to the OSE contracts, if they are still outstanding, they have to be stopped immediately. In addition, aid has to be recovered for the period running from the counter guarantees were in force. The aid to recover amounts to the difference between an annual fee of 680 basis points (i.e. 6,8 %) and the premiums actually paid by HSY (i.e. guarantee premium paid to ETVA plus guarantee premium paid to the State).
The implementation of the contracts existing between HSY on the one hand and OSE and ISAP on the other, as well as the amendments of the contracts accepted by OSE in 2002–2003 (these measures were named ‘measure E12c’ in the preamble of the present decision), do not constitute aid.
The loan amounting to GRD 16,9 billion (EUR 49,7 million) granted on 29 October 1999 by ETVA to HSY and reimbursed in 2004 (this measure was named ‘measure E13a’ in the preamble of the present decision) constitutes aid, which has been put into effect in contravention of Article 88(3) of the Treaty and which is incompatible with the common market.
The aid to recover for the period until June 2001 is the difference between the reference rate for Greece increased by 600 basis points and the interest rate actually paid to ETVA by HSY.
For the period thereafter until the reimbursement of the loan, the aid to recover is the difference between the reference rate for Greece increased by 400 basis points and the interest rate actually paid by HSY to ETVA.
The guarantees of EUR 3,26 million and of EUR 3,38 million granted by ETVA respectively on 4 March 1999 and on 17 June 1999 and which were cancelled in 2002 (these measures were named ‘measure E13b’ in the preamble of the present decision) constitute aid, which has been put into effect in contravention of Article 88(3) of the Treaty and which is incompatible with the common market.
The aid to recover for the period until the cancellation of the guarantees amounts to the difference between an annual guarantee premium of 480 basis points (i.e. 4,8 %) and the guarantee premium actually paid by HSY.
75 % of the State guarantee granted on 8 December 1999 to guarantee a loan amounting to GRD 10 billion (EUR 29,3 million) granted by ETVA to HSY (this measure was named ‘measure E14’ in the preamble of the present decision) is covered by Article 296 of the Treaty.
The remaining 25 % of the State guarantee is not covered by Article 296 of the Treaty and constitutes aid, which has been put into effect in contravention of Article 88(3) of the Treaty. GRD 750 million (EUR 2,20 million) of this aid was compatible with the common market until 31 March 2002. After that date, only EUR 1,32 million was compatible with the common market.
The rest of the aid is incompatible. If the State guarantee is still outstanding, the part of this guarantee which constitutes incompatible aid (i.e. 25 % of the guarantee still outstanding, minus EUR 1,32 million which is compatible) has to be stopped immediately.
In addition, for the period running from the paying out of the guaranteed loan to HSY until the termination of the incompatible State guarantee, aid amounting to the difference between the reference rate for Greece increased by 600 basis points and the total cost of the guaranteed loan (interest rate plus guarantee premium paid by HSY) has to be recovered.
This aid has to be calculated in respect of the part of the State guarantee which constituted incompatible aid.
75 % of the loans amounting to GRD 1,99 billion (EUR 5,9 million), USD 10 million and USD 5 million granted by ETVA to HSY respectively on 25 July 1997, 15 October 1997 and on 27 January 1998 (these measures were named ‘measure E16’ in the preamble of the present decision) are covered by Article 296 of the Treaty.
The remaining 25 % of the loans constitute aid.
The aid included in the first loan, which was denominated in drachma, amounts to the difference between the reference rate for Greece increased by 400 basis points and the interest rate paid by HSY. The aid included in the second and the third loan, which were denominated in US dollar, amounts to the difference between US LIBOR increased by 475 basis points and the interest rate paid by HSY.
In the three cases, the aid has been put into effect in contravention of Article 88(3) of the Treaty and is incompatible with the common market.
This aid has therefore to be recovered.
25 % of EUR 81,3 million and of EUR 40 million, which represent approximations of the advance payments made by the Greek Navy in 2000 and 2001 in excess of the costs incurred by HSY in the execution of the corresponding contracts during that period (these measures were named ‘measure E17’ in the preamble of the present decision), constitute aid during one year.
This aid has been put into effect in contravention of Article 88(3) of the Treaty and is incompatible with the common market. The aid to recover amounts to the reference rate for Greece increased by 600 basis points, which has to be counted during one year.
The indemnification guarantee granted by ETVA to HDW/Ferrostaal providing that ETVA would indemnify HDW/Ferrostaal for any State aid recovered from HSY (this measure was part of the measure named ‘measure E18c’ in the preamble of the present decision) constitutes aid, which has been put into effect in contravention of Article 88(3) of the Treaty and which is incompatible with the common market. In addition, the guarantee is per se incompatible with the common market. The guarantee has therefore to be stopped immediately.
Since the aid to recover, such as defined in Articles 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 11 to 15, has exclusively benefited the civil activities of HSY, it has to be recovered from the civil activities of HSY. In this respect, Greece shall provide detailed evidence — including a confirmation of the independent firm auditing its accounts — that the reimbursement has been financed exclusively by the civil part of HSY.
1. Greece shall recover from HSY the aid to recover such as defined in Articles 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 11 to 15.
2. The sums to be recovered shall bear interest from the date on which they were put at the disposal of HSY until their actual recovery.
3. The interest shall be calculated on a compound basis in accordance with Chapter V of Commission Regulation (EC) No 794/2004 ( 168 ) .
4. Recovery of the aid shall be immediate and effective.
5. Greece shall ensure that this decision is implemented within four months following the date of notification of this Decision.
1. Within two months following notification of this Decision, Greece shall submit the following information to the Commission:
(a)
the amount (principal and recovery interests) to be recovered from the beneficiary;
(b)
a detailed description of the measures already taken and planned to comply with this Decision;
(c)
documents demonstrating that the beneficiary has been ordered to repay the aid.
2. Greece shall keep the Commission informed of the progress of the national measures taken to implement this Decision until recovery of the aid has been completed. It shall immediately submit, on simple request by the Commission, information on the measures already taken and planned to comply with this Decision. It shall also provide detailed information concerning the amounts of aid and recovery interest already recovered from the beneficiary.
This Decision is addressed to the Hellenic Republic.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.
