Gdańsk Shipyard hopes to get aid worth zł. 74.5 million

Gdańsk Shipyard (SG) hopes to obtain zł. 74.5 million in net aid, either from the parent company, or through converting its legal-public debts to shares, which would then be cancelled from the company's profits in 2008. If the first option is not carried out, then SG will ask for zł. 28 million of its debts to be remitted to public entities and to temporarily increase its capital by zł. 40-50 million. "The restructuring program, which includes public aid, meets the conditions for permitted aid in the ship construction sector," stated Cezary Banasiński, the president of the Competition and Consumer Protection Office (UOKiK). SG also plans to extend its slipway lease contract with Synergia 99. "The shipyard has the right to lease the slipway until August 2006, with the option of extending this deadline to the end of 2007. The company will then decide on whether it intends to continue using our equipment, or finish its own investment and use the entire plant on Ostrów island," said Synergia 99 president, Janusz Lipiński. (Puls Biznesu, pp. 1, 5) M.M.