The 2016 deal to save a Motherwell steelworks may have broken state aid rules, MSPs are told.
The Scottish government may have broken state aid rules while facilitating the sale of a Motherwell steelworks in 2016, MSPs have been told.
Business minister Ivan McKee said it had revealed a clause in the contract that could have broken state aid rules. It could fall to European courts to rule on whether state aid rules were broken - and who would ultimately be liable for future costs.Two steel mills, at Dalzell and Clydebridge, were mothballed by Tata Steel in late 2015. The following year the Scottish government stepped in to facilitate their sale to Liberty House to save local jobs.
However a review has now found that the clause granting indemnity to Tata "may represent state aid" - even though, as Mr McKee stressed, no money has changed hands.Nicola Sturgeon was present at the handover of the Dalzell site to buyer Sanjeev Gupta However, a spokesman for Tata Steel UK said the firm considered the sale contract to be "binding and valid in all aspects", and called for further talks with ministers.
"We consider the 2016 sale agreement - which was negotiated in good faith between the Scottish government and Tata Steel on commercial terms - to be valid and binding in all aspects.
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