A total of 1,455 dockyard workers had applied for the early retirement schemes offered by the Finance Ministry by late yesterday, leaving just 172 who have still to make up their minds, a Finance Ministry official said today.

They have up to this evening to apply and benefit from the schemes in full. Although the schemes will remain open throughout October, applicants will then only be eligible for 85 percent of the handouts.

The schemes were launched in mid-August ahead of the privatisation of Malta Shipyards and will cost the government €58 million if all the workers apply. The government is hoping the funds will come from the sale of the ‘yard.

A call for expressions of interest in the dockyard closed two weeks ago but a formal call for tenders has still not been made.

The government also has to present the European Union with a new privatisation strategy after the Competition Commissioner objected to plans for the government to write off the dockyard debts of €100 million.

Finance Minister Tonio Fenech in comments to The Sunday Times last Sunday said it was very positive that the number of applicants for the retirement schemes was high. “This should also help us with the European Commission," he said.

The size of the workforce had a bearing on the position of the European Commission, and the "encouraging" number of scheme applicants diluted the problem, Mr Fenech said.

Commissioner Kroes had warned the government against accepting a cheaper bid in which the bidder offered to take on more workers. In that case, she said, the Commission was likely to view the transaction as having an element of state aid.

Asked whether liquidation was still a possibility, Mr Fenech said: "It's our intention to keep the company going until we finish off the pending contracts... But I'm positive about the expressions of interest - and I'm positive about the privatisation process."

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