Brussels wants Deutsche Post to repay 300 mln Euros in state aid

The European Commission in Brussels wants Deutsche Post, the semi-privatised German postal authority, to repay up to 300 million euros (273 million dollars) in state aid, the financial daily Boersen-Zeitung reported on Friday, quoting “well-informed” sources.

EU competition commissioner Mario Monti hopes to have the issue settled before the summer break and is to talk about it with German Finance Minister Hans Eichel at their next meeting scheduled for May 23, the newspaper said.

It quoted a Deutsche Post spokesman as dismissing the information as “total nonsense”.

Deutsche Post had never made any use of public aid, the spokesman insisted.

A spokesman for Mario Monti said the commission had not yet reached any decision on the matter.

And a spokesman for the German Finance Ministry said the main issue at stake was to ascertain whether a company had cross-subsidised its competitive business with state aid.

The outcome of Brussels’ findings were “still open” and a final decision would be reached “during the course of the year,” Berlin said.

Brussels launched the probe against Deutsche Post in July 1999 after a private rival claimed that the postal authority was cross-subsidising its postal and freight business with profits from its letter-delivery monopoly.