The price Ford will pay to the state for the stake in Automobile Craiova remains unchanged at 57 million euros - the sum decided on after privatisation negotiations, Nadia Crisan, Ford Europe's consultant for the privatisation process told ZF.
"The acquisition price is still 57 million euros for the 72.4% stake that the state owns in Automobile Craiova. As soon as we have analysed the European Commission's answer, we will discuss the position of the European institution with the representatives of Automobile Craiova's privatisation commission," Crisan said.
The 27 million-euro state aid illegally granted for the privatisation of Automobile Craiova was the difference between the market price and the amount paid by US Ford group (57 million euros) to take over the automotive plant, European Commission's spokesman Johannes Laitenberger explained.
The sale of the majority interest in Automobile Craiova by the Romanian state did not comply with EU legislation because the State Assets Resolution Authority offered certain terms that provided a lower price, the spokesman said. "The illegal 27 million-euro aid represents the difference between the market price and the amount paid by the buyer," Laitenberger told a news conference called to announce that the EC had finished its investigation.
The European Commission completed the investigation on the privatisation of Automobile Craiova, started in October 2007, and found that Romania had imposed conditions on the sale that aimed at ensuring a certain level of production and employment, accepting in exchange a lower sales price, a release from the institution reveals.
"The higher production and employment level achieved for Craiova through the conditional sale and the lower revenue Romania had conversely earned constitute state aid. In order to avoid that companies receive unfair advantages ove
