A few weeks after the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation questioning whether the Italian government propped up Italian shipyard Cantieri del Mediterraneo (CAMED), another case might involve several companies that belong to MSC and are active in the same Italian port.
According to local media, Brussels has made a preliminary request for information from the port authority of Naples and to several container terminals, ferry companies and shipyards owned or participated by Gianluigi Aponte’s group in order to clarify whether public investments made for over €100m were in line with EU state aid rules. The grants were used for quay extensions, installation of new cranes and some other works. Also missed payments of the terminal concessions in Naples are on the table. The companies involved are Conateco, Soteco, Terminal Napoli, Snav, Navigazione libera del Golfo, La Nuova Meccanica Navale and Terminal Flavio Gioia.
MSC and the local port authority have a few weeks now to provide EC officers the requested information and try to avoid the opening of an official in-depth investigation for suspected state aid.
