The European Union has ordered Greece to recover state subsidies which were received by Cosco’s subsidiary in Piraeus, as they are considered non-compliant with European legislation. The decision came a few hours prior to PM Tsipras’ meeting with Chancellor Merkel and ahead of VP Yannis Dragasakis’ trip to Beijing.
Specifically the Commission has argued that the tax exemptions and preferential accounting treatment that Cosco’s subsidiardy received to conflict with EU competition law. As such, the EC has demanded that a number of main terms and clauses in the contract between the two sides to be removed.
According to the European Commission, Cosco was exempt from various taxes and received preferential treatment, particularly in foreign investments. Greater details will be available in the next edition of the Official Journal of the European Union.
The EC spokesperson Ricardo Cardoso told To Vima that while the European Commission will delineate the method for recovering the State subsidies, it is up to Greek authorities to establish how much these subsidies amount to, as they alone have the relevant information.
Some sources have estimated the subsidies to amount to about 1 million euros, however the changes requested will essentially necessitate the singing of a new business plan, as various clauses must be put into place in order to avoid similar problems in the future.
