Thursday, July 27, 2017

Socialists!

France is set to nationalise its biggest shipyard at St-Nazaire rather than allow it to pass into Italian ownership.

The nationalisation, which is expected to be confirmed on Thursday afternoon, will mark President Emmanuel Macron’s first major industrial policy intervention, and appears a far cry from the former banker’s usual philosophy.

  Guardian
Jesus, why was the biggest shipyard in France privately owned in the first place?
The future of the STX France shipyard has provoked controversy, after the collapse of its South Korean owner, STX last year.
So they were okay with it being owned by South Koreans but not Italians.
According to a source quoted by Le Monde, any state takeover is expected to be temporary, pending a new buyer being found. He said: “The aim is not to nationalise St-Nazaire, but we have to temporarily.”
Letting it be privately owned seems pretty risky to me, but perhaps they count on being able to nationalize it at any point they need to. Of course, it might be too late if a foreign individual or state has been running it.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

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