Poland prepares to bring shipyard subsidies in line with EU norms

The bill should be passed as soon as possible because the European Council directive that allows the state budget to return up to 6% of the value of the ships to shipyards is valid only to 31 March. Between 2002 and 2004 state support for domestic shipyards amounted to almost zł.1 billion. During the next three years the government intends to spend another zł.376 million - zł.110 million in this year alone. The government will grant subsidies for the production of ships for the transport of chemicals, merchandise and gas and container ships. The Finance Ministry calculated that during one year, the three main domestic shipyards pay almost zł.256 million to the state budget and the Social Insurance Administration (ZUS). Another zł.120 million comes from the companies supplying elements for the construction of ships. Therefore during the next three years the consolidated revenues for the state budget will amount to zł.890 million, which means that they will be higher than the outlays for subsidies by more than zł.0.5 billion. (Rzeczpospolita, pp. A1, B1) E.B.