EC ALLOWS STATE HELP FOR ABX LOGISTICS

EC ALLOWS STATE HELP FOR ABX LOGISTICS    The European Commission has approved loans made by the state-owned Belgian railways to its subsidiary ABX Logistics, the major Belgian international transport and logistics service provider that is in financial difficulty.
   The European Commission approved “rescue aid” in the form of three bridging loans to three companies belonging to ABX Logistics in France, Germany and the Netherlands. The rescue aid, which must be repaid in the medium term, “is intended to enable the three recipients to remain temporarily afloat and to avoid job losses, which should benefit all of ABX’s activities,” the EC said.
   The Brussels-based regulator said that if the ABX companies filed for bankruptcy, it would have “disastrous direct repercussions” on 7,619 jobs (4,578 in France, 2,702 in Germany and 339 in the Netherlands). The EC said that the financial help from their parent company “is justified for acute social reasons and because it is limited to the minimum amount needed to keep the three direct recipients afloat long enough to take a decision on their future.”
   Within six months, the Belgian authorities must send to the EC either a restructuring plan, or a bankruptcy plan, or proof that the rescue aid has been fully repaid.