The Ministry of Energy is determined that the draft amendment to the so-called the mining act was submitted to the next government meeting – the Minister of Energy, Miłosz Motyka, told PAP Business. He added that the issue of possible inclusion of JSW and Bogdanka in the act regarding employee protection is at the decision stage.
“As far as issues related to the restructuring of this company are concerned, the Ministry of Assets is responsible for this, while the mining act, which the Ministry of Industry worked on, is currently in the Ministry of Energy. We are determined to ensure that this project reaches the next Council of Ministers,” said Motyka.
Covering Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa with the provisions of the amendment to the Act on the Operation of Mining would allow the group to take advantage of the voluntary departure program financed from the state budget.
“And today we are talking about whether it is possible to provide support in the field of employee protection for JSW, also for Bogdanka (…), because representatives of those working in these companies pay attention to it. And we are analyzing the costs. We accept this possibility,” he added.
As he explained, it is possible that this will also involve the procedure of notifying state aid to the European Commission.
“But we are prepared for this, if such a procedure were to take place, and we do not believe that it would later raise any risk of non-notification of this assistance,” he said, noting that the government is considering support in the field of employee protection.
When asked whether it should be understood that the draft bill, which may be submitted to the next government meeting, will still be without JSW and Bogdanka, he replied that it was too early to decide about it.
“We have carried out all the analyses, we are at the decision stage,” he emphasized.
JSW solidarity contribution to be refunded?
When asked about the application for the refund of JSW's solidarity contribution, he replied that it was being analyzed legally.
“We are analyzing several issues. Firstly, it is not yet the responsibility of any ministry or trade union to assess the constitutionality of a given solution, but only the Constitutional Tribunal, the functioning of which is burdened with a serious legal defect (…). The second issue – the act is in operation, the act has in fact already been closed, the money has been distributed. And here, from a legal perspective, there is a discussion about possible public aid,” added Motyka.
When asked whether a decision on this matter would be possible by the end of October, as recently announced by Deputy Minister of Assets Robert Kropiwnicki, he replied that it was too early to decide about it.
“This is a legal dispute, not a dispute of willingness or lack of willingness. It is a legal issue. If it were a simple matter, I think that the Ministry of Climate would have made such a decision a long time ago,” said the Minister of Energy.
Moreover, on Tuesday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that Polska Grupa Zbrojeniowa and the Polish defense industry may be involved in rescuing JSW.
“This is the next stage, but I think this is not directly within the competence of the Ministry of Energy. What we are also working on at the European level is tightening the system related to steel imports, because here a derivative of the situation at JSW is what happened on the steel market. The excess of this raw material on our market did not come out of nowhere, it just came from outside the EU,” Motyka referred to the role of PGZ.
He added that Poland hopes that the steel import quota to the EU will be reduced and customs duties on this quota will be increased.
“We will definitely talk (with the EC – PAP) to make it happen faster,” he emphasized.
Over the weekend, JSW announced that its management board had adopted a resolution to start preparations for the business restructuring process aimed at stabilizing the company's liquidity situation.
On Tuesday, Deputy Minister of State Assets, Robert Kropiwnicki, announced on RMF FM radio that a decision should be made by the end of October regarding the refund of PLN 1.6 billion of the solidarity contribution for JSW. He declared that the goal is for an act to be passed by the end of the year that could include JSW in subsidies to mining severance pay. In his opinion, the necessary pay cuts in the company include, among others: 15 percent
At the beginning of October, Motyka announced that including Jastrzębska Spółka Węglowa in the provisions of the amendment to the Act on the Operation of Mining would allow the group to take advantage of the voluntary departure program financed from the state budget, but that this would be the subject of further talks.
His statement indicated that the additional cost of incorporating JSW is estimated at several hundred million PLN.
The draft amendment to the Act on the Operation of the Hard Coal Mining Industry aims, among others, to: enable financing of protective benefits for employees of liquidated mines from budget subsidies. The Management Board of JSW applied for the company to be included in the provisions of the amended Act. At the current legislative stage, the company is not included in them, which means that employees leaving it would not be able to benefit from the voluntary departure program financed from the budget.
Julita Żylińska (PAP Biznes)
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