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Ministry of Finance to issue decision to recover illegal state aid granted to Blue Air
The Ministry of Finance will issue a decision to recover an illegal state aid worth approximately 33.84 million euros from Blue Air, following a request from the European Commission in this regard, said Government spokesman Mihai Constantin.
"I think the Blue Air case I goes back as far as the summer of 2020. Right now I can tell you that the Romanian state has at its disposal the tools it generally has for recovering or managing disputes with commercial entities, so I am thinking of the Ministry of Finance yet again. (...) The Ministry of Finance has the competence and will issue a recovery decision in this case, after the decision communicated today, and after that the enforcement procedure will be triggered with all that it involves against Blue Air," Mihai Constantin told a press conference on Friday at the Victoria Palace of Government, when asked about the measures the Government has taken in the Blue Air case.
The European Commission has concluded that Blue Air's restructuring plan was not capable of restoring the airline's long-term viability and it is therefore incompatible with EU State aid rules. Romania must now recover from Blue Air illegal State aid amounting to approximately EUR 33.84 million (RON 163.8 million), the commission reported on Friday.
In April 2023, the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether a restructuring plan for Blue Air and the aid measures implemented to support this plan were in line with EU State aid rules, in particular with the Guidelines on rescue and restructuring aid to non-financial undertakings in difficulty (the R&R Guidelines).
Blue Air had been experiencing financial difficulties since 2019. In August 2020, the European Commission approved two measures in favour of the airline: an around EUR 28 million (approximately RON 137 million) public guarantee to cover the damage directly caused by the coronavirus outbreak; and an around EUR 33.84 million (RON 163.8 million) public guarantee on a rescue loan intended to partly cover Blue Air's liquidity needs for the following six months.
Romania agreed that if the public guarantee on the rescue loan was not terminated after six months from the first aid payment which took place in October 2020 it would submit either a liquidation plan or a comprehensive restructuring plan for Blue Air to the Commission. In April 2021, Romania submitted a restructuring plan which was subsequently up-dated several times. In November 2022, Romania reimbursed the loan and took a 75% shareholding in Blue Air after the airline suspended operations in September 2022.
Following its in-depth investigation opened in April 2023, the European Commission has concluded that the restructuring plan for Blue Air was not feasible, coherent and sufficiently far-reaching to restore the airline's long-term viability within a reasonable timeframe and without unduly distorting competition in the single market. This was corroborated by Blue Air's inability to maintain operations and its request in March 2023 to enter into insolvency proceedings. The restructuring plan has not been updated following the cessation of operations or the opening of the in-depth investigation.
Measures to support an inadequate and unrealistic restructuring plan that is not backed by sufficient market funding from investors beyond the rescue period are illegal under EU state aid rules. Romania must now recover from Blue Air the unlawful State aid amounting to EUR 33.84 million (RON 163.8 million) plus interest.
"Public support for companies under difficulties needs be backed up by viable plans to ensure that the restructuring is successful without unduly distorting competition. After an in-depth investigation, we have confirmed that the restructuring plan and the measures implemented for Blue Air are not in line with EU state aid rules. Romania must now recover the aid to restore competition in the internal market for air transport services," says Margrethe Vestager, executive vice-president in charge of competition policy.