Deutsche Post Germany Expects Repayment of EU Fine

Deutsche Post (DPWGn.DE) said on Tuesday it was confident of winning back hundreds of millions of euros it was forced to repay the government by an EU ruling on illegal state aid but said a decision would not come until 2005. Deutsche Post Chief Executive Klaus Zumwinkel said the group had filed appeals at both the European Court of Justice and the Berlin Administrative Court against the ruling, which forced to it to pay 907 million euros ($971.9 million). Deutsche Post says the EU made both formal and material errors in its ruling and that interest payments were calculated incorrectly. ‘We are confident that we will win both cases and that we will be able to get back the sum that we paid,’ Zumwinkel said. The European Commission last summer ordered the German postal giant to repay 572 million euros to the German government, which the post office allegedly used to undercut private rivals in the parcels sector. With interest, the amount was increased to 907 million euros.