Press Release: Steel restructuring: Commission finds that restructuring of Bulgarian steelmaker Kremikovtzi failed

The European Commission has found that the Bulgarian steel producer Kremikovtzi did not implement the business plan established for its restructuring, which had been agreed by the Commission in 2006 on the basis of a special steel protocol to the Europe Agreement applicable to EU/Bulgaria relations prior to the 2007 accession. Between 1998 and 2005, the company received about €222 million restructuring aid, but failed to modernise its infrastructure and to reduce its production costs. The company went bankrupt in August 2008 and Bulgaria initiated the recovery of the aid plus interest in the context of the ongoing liquidation proceedings.

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