By Tom Fairless
BRUSSELS--The European Union's top court said Tuesday it had
annulled a decision by the European Commission, the EU's executive
arm, to recover state aid granted to Hungarian oil company MOL Nyrt
(MOL.BU).
The European Commission said in 2010 that a deal struck by
Hungarian authorities with MOL over mining fees constituted state
aid. It demanded that Hungary recover the aid, which it said
amounted to about 96.6 million euros ($129.2 million) for 2008 and
EUR6.6 million euros.
However, the European Court of Justice ruled that the commission
had failed to examine all relevant aspects of the mining fees deal,
and hadn't established that it conferred unfair economic advantages
on MOL.
"There is nothing to show that the company benefited from
favorable treatment in relation to its competitors regarding the
payment of mining fees," the court said in a statement.
Write to Tom Fairless at tom.fairless@wsj.com
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