L 185/18 Official Journal of the European Union 17.7.2007 COMMISSION DECISION of 21 February 2007 on State aid No C 16/2006 (ex NN 34/2006) to be implemented by the Region of Sicily for Nuova Mineraria Silius SpA (notified under document number C(2007) 473) (Only the Italian text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2007/499(EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 88(2) thereof, Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, and in particular Article 62(1)(a) thereof, Having called on interested parties to submit their comments pursuant to the provisions cited above (1) and having regard to their comments, Whereas: 4 PROCEDURE The aid that Italy is planning to grant to Nuova Mineraria Silius was notified to the Commission by letter of 30 November 2005. The Commission requested further information on 21 December 2005 and Italy replied by letter registered as received on 7 February 2006. By letter of 26 April 2006, the Commission informed Italy that it had decided to initiate the procedure laid down in Article 88(2) of the EC Treaty in respect of the aid. The Commission decision to initiate the procedure was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (2). The Commission invited interested parties to submit their comments on the measure. A meeting with the Italian authorities took place on 12 May 2006. The same authorities reacted to the initiation () OJ C 210, 1.9.2006, p. 39. (®) See footnote 1. of the procedure by means of letters dated 14 July and 30 August. The Commission requested additional infor- mation by letter of 18 September 2006, to which Italy replied on 3 November and 31 December. The Commission received comments from interested parties. It forwarded them to Italy, which was given the opportunity to react. The reply by the Italian authorities was submitted by letter of 3 November 2006. DESCRIPTION OF THE BENEFICIARY AND AID MEASURES The aid beneficiary would be Nuova Mineraria Silius S.p.A. (hereinafter ‘NMS), a company wholly owned by the Autonomous Region of Sardinia (RAS). NMS exploits a deposit of fluorite (}) in the municipality of Silius, Sardinia. In 2004 (the most recent year for which data are available) the company had a turnover of EUR 4,96 million and 163 employees. NMS was established in 1992 by RAS and the Minmet Financing Company. RAS subsequently assigned ownership (97,5% in 1996 and currently 100 %) to the public entity Ente Minerario Sardo (EMSA). In 1998 EMSA was put into liquidation. The official receiver was charged with privatising the activities where possible and otherwise with arranging their closure. However, when the attempts to privatise NMS failed and EMSA ceased activities (June 2002), NMS was not wound up. Following the failure of the privatisation, Italy notified to the Commission a plan for a new capital injection into the company of some EUR 24 million. According to Italy, the new capital would allow investments in preparation for the exploitation of new, deeper deposits, leading to an increase in the fluorite content of the minerals extracted and in overall production at the mine. (}) Fluorite is used in the synthesis of organic molecules for the production of plastic materials such as teflon, resins, aerosols and lubricants.