L 12/38 Official Journal of the European Union 16.1.2013 COMMISSION DECISION of 25 July 2012 on the State aid n° SA.33114 (2012/C) (ex. 2011/NN) — Poland Alleged aid to Crist Shipyard (notified under document C(2012) 5057) (Only the Polish version is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2013/9/EV) THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article 108(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 ('), Whereas: [. PROCEDURE On 6 November 2008, the Commission adopted two recovery decisions () concerning unlawful State aid to the shipyards in Gdynia and Szczecin (hereinafter the “Gdynia Shipyard” and the “Szczecin  Shipyard”) allowing a special sales procedure. The Polish authorities were given the opportunity to sell the yards’ assets in bundles in open, transparent, unconditional and non- discriminatory tenders. The Commission, while following up the recovery process, requested clarifications about the tender procedures mentioned above. Following press reports that the State-owned Industrial Development Agency (hereinafter "IDA") may have granted in September 2010 a loan (hereinafter "the measure", to Crist S.A. (hereinafter "Crist" or "the company") for the purchase of certain assets of the Gdynia Shipyard, the Commission requested clarifications on this issue at a meeting with the Polish authorities on 22 October 2010. The Polish authorities explained their position and undertook to submit all necessary information and corroborating () OJ C 129 of 4.5.2012, p. 9. (%) Commission Decision of 6 November 2008 on State aid C 19/05 (ex N 203/05) granted by Poland to Stocznia Szczecinska, OJ L 5, 8.1.2010, p. 1, and Commission Decision of 6 November 2008 on State aid C 17/05 (ex N 194/05 and PL 34/04) granted by Poland to Stocznia Gdynia, OJ L 33, 4.2.2010, p. 1. documents regarding the transaction. The information was submitted on 25 November 2010 and on 5 December 2011. The Commission met with the Polish authorities on 6 December 2011. A series of exchanges took place between Vice-President Almunia and the Polish Minister of Treasury, Mr Grad, culminating in a letter from Mr Grad dated 25 October 2011 and informing the Commission that the end of the liquidation procedure was planned for the end of 2011 for both the Gdynia Shipyard and the Szczecin Shipyard. By letter dated 25 January 2012, the Commission informed Poland that it had decided to initiate the procedure laid down in Article 108(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (hereinafter "TFEU") in respect of the measure at stake (hereinafter “the opening decision”). The opening decision was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (}). The Commission invited interested parties to submit their comments on the measure. Poland submitted its comments on 27 February 2012. No comments from third parties were received. Further information was provided by Poland on 4 and 5 June 2012. II. BACKGROUND TO THE CASE 1. Description of the beneficiary According to the Polish authorities, Crist, a private company located in Gdansk, was established in 1990 by its two current shareholders. It has about 150 employees and about 500 self-employed contractors providing services to the company. The main fields of Crist’s activities are shipbuilding, ship repair and hydro- technical installations. In the period between 2004 and 2008, the company worked yearly on about 20 ships (%) See footnote 1.