EU General Court Decision for AoG
EU General Court Decision for AoG
ANNOUNCEMENT
PPC SA announces that the General Court of the European Union accepted the action for annulment of Aluminium of Greece, by which the said company requested the annulment of the Decision of the European Commission dated 13th July 2011, concerning the granting of state aid to Aluminium of Greece. PPC SA had intervened before the Court n January 2012 in favour of the Commission. It is clarified that PPC SA has not lodged any complaint as mentioned in the announcement of Mytilinaios SA. The relevant initial complaint had been lodged on 24.07.2008 by GENOP PPC, the Consumer Protection Institute (INKA), the Consumers' Union EKPIZO etc.
In particular, the Court judged to which extent the decision of the injunction taken by the Court of first instance of Athens in 2007, by which the suspension of the contract termination had been ordered (that is of the contract dated 1960 between PPC and Aluminium of Greece), which took place in March 2006 from the part of PPC, constitutes a new aid in distinction to an extension of an existing aid.
The Court ruled that in the said case, the abovementioned decision of injunction kept temporarily in effect (in other words extended) the preferential tariff for the period starting from January 2007 and ending on March 2008. Nevertheless according to the Court the suspension of the contract termination ordered by the relevant decision of injunction, is not considered as new advantage in distinction of an existing aid in the sense of modification of an existing aid and annulled the above decision of the Commission given that the Commission characterized the measure as a new aid.
The Commission may proceed to an action for annulment against the said Decision of the General Court, as well as an action for its suspension.
PPC SA will comply with the decision taken and reflect it in the financial statements of the nine-month period.
Athens, October 9, 2014