L 142/32 Official Journal of the European Communities 5.6.1999 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 14 October 1998 on a proposal by Austria to grant aid to LiftgmbH (notified under document number C(1998) 3212) (Only the German text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (1999/365/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the first subparagraph of Atrticle 93(2) thereof, Having regard to the Agreement establishing the Euro- pean Economic Area, and in particular point (a) of Article 62(1) thereof, Having given notice in accordance with Article 93 of the EC Treaty to the parties concerned to submit their comments, Whereas: LiftgmbH is a subsidiary of the Austrian group of compa- nies Doppelmayr-Seilbahnvertriebsgesellschaft mbH. The group’s main activities focus on the manufacture and installation of surface and aerial cableways, funicular rail- ways, urban transit systems, elevators, mechanical garaging systems and stacker cranes for high-rise ware- houses. According to the Austrian authorities, the group’s turnover amounts to ATS 2,5 billion (ECU 180,5 million) and its balance sheet total comes to ATS 1,6 billion (ECU 115,5 million). The group employs 950 people. The ropeways business area is the group’s most important one in terms of number of employees and turnover. LiftgmbH is part of this business area. It has set up a Chinese subsidiary, SanHe Doppelmayr Transport Systems Co. Ltd, and invested ATS 54,1 million (ECU 3,9 million) in a small-scale production plant in SanHe, Hebei Region. The subsidiary produces fixed-grip chairlifts for the Chinese market. In 1997 it made three lifts with 20 employees. In the medium term it plans to make 15 lifts a year with 50 employees. Austria proposes to grant LiftgmbH a soft loan of ATS 25 million (ECU 1,8 million), the grant equivalent of which is ATS 1,8 million (ECU 130 500) (). The loan’s duration is eight years, a two-year grace period being followed by a six-year-long half yearly repayment scheme; the loan bears an interest rate of 3,5 % for the first two years, 4 % for the next three years and 6,25 % for the last three years. The aid intensity of this amount is 3,2 % gross. The aid is to be disbursed under the ERP internationalisation scheme. In its Decision 97/240/EC (*) the Commission approved the scheme subject to aid being granted only for direct foreign investment by SMEs and to any aid for large enterprises being notified individually. (") In determining the grant equivalent of the soft loan, the Commission applied the reference interest rate currently applicable to Austria of 5,96 %. () OJ L 96, 11.4.1997, p. 15.