Press Release: State aid: Commission opens in-depth inquiry into possible Greek state aid to Larco General Mining and Metallurgical Company S.A.

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to verify whether State support measures granted by Greece to Larco General Mining and Metallurgical Company S.A. (Larco) for an amount of over EUR 105m comply with EU state aid rules. The Commission has doubts that the measures are in line with EU rules, in particular the rules on state aid for the rescue and restructuring of companies in difficulty.

It appears that Larco may have benefited from several state aid measures in the past in excess of EUR 105 million. These include a capital increase in 2009 and several State guarantees for loans in the period 2008-2010, the possible non-collection by the State of a debt since 2004, and a waiver of a tax fine pre-payment in 2010. Based on its financial data, Larco appears to have been in difficulty at least since 2008.

European Commission: DG Competition http://ec.europa.eu/competition/index_en.html

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