State Subsidies and Public Policy
Article from: TDM 5 (2007), in Case Comments & Awards
The Swedish court rejects complainant's argument that a profit guarantee undertaken by the state in a share purchase agreement constitutes a state subsidy[1]
In 1995, Latvia decided to privatize Latvijas Gaze, a gas distribution company. For this purpose, Latvia's Privatization Agency - entrusted with this task - went out with a bid invitation, followed by a selection of prospective bidders. Of seven prospective bidders, two were invited to submit final bids, on the basis of which one of the bidders - a German consortium - was selected. As a result of the privatization process, the German consortium acquired a majority shareholding in Latvijas Gaze. A share purchase agreement was entered into in 1997, in which also the ...