I guess the state of Ohio missed this story?
UPDATE 1-EU rejects 500 mln euros state aid for DHL Leipzig | Industries | Industrials, Materials & Utilities | Reuters
UPDATE 1-EU rejects 500 mln euros state aid for DHL Leipzig
Wed Jul 23, 2008 8:36am EDT
BRUSSELS, July 23 (Reuters) - The European Commission has rejected German state aid guarantees for express cargo carrier DHL [DHL.UL] worth up to 500 million euros ($796.1 million) at Leipzig airport, it said on Wednesday.
The Commission did, however, authorise 350 million euros of public investment for a new runway at Leipzig Halle airport.
DHL, owned by Deutsche Post (DPWGn.DE:
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Stock Buzz), said it welcomed the decision on the contribution to the new runway and had very little concern about the decision on the guarantees.
"CEO Frank Appel emphasized that Deutsche Post can live quite well with the commission's decision today," DHL said.
"We have obtained in the meantime the long-term security that DHL urgently needs at the Leipzig location," the statement quoted Appel as saying.
DHL said that it expected "no consequence whatsoever on the operational day-to-day business nor on DHL's decision to operate the central European hub in Leipzig for the long term."
A Commission spokesman said that the most DHL would have to reimburse for having received nine months of the guarantee would be less than 1 million euros.
Germany's federal state of Saxony had issued a so-called "comfort letter" promising Leipzig Airport and DHL up to 500 million euros if Leipzig airport was unable to meet conditions of a deal with DHL.
"The Commission concluded that the unlimited guarantee allowed DHL to hedge business risks on terms which a private investor would not have accepted and would distort competition," the Commission said in a statement.
The Commission said DHL has already benefited from the maximum amount of investment aid permissible for regions with an abnormally low standard of living and high unemployment.