§ 25. Adam PriceTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what her Department's policy is in relation to financial support for the steel industry in eastern Europe. [69897]
§ Clare ShortThe UK believes that the countries of Eastern Europe need to privatise and restructure their steel industries as part of their transition from central planning to open market orientated economies. Privatisation and restructuring help to improve efficiency and enable governments to redirect subsidies—which currently keep inefficient companies afloat—into investment in essential public services.
The UK does not provide direct financial support to the steel industry in Eastern Europe. The UK is a shareholder in the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) which both support the restructuring of former communist economies in Eastern Europe, including through non-concessional loans to support steel industry privatisation and restructuring.