(BRUSSELS) - The European Commission insisted Friday that it had not taken a decision about Poland's plans to restructure two troubled shipyards and that it was still studying them.

"Our analysis is still underway. The commission will endeavour to take a decision as soon as possible, but for the moment no date has been set for taking that decision," said competition issues spokesman Jonathan Todd.

However he said it would come "in the next few weeks".

His remarks followed unconfirmed Polish media reports that EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes will reject the plans to save the heavily indebted Baltic Sea shipyards in Gdynia and Szczecin, which could mean their bankruptcy.

On September 12, Poland inked deals with private investors aimed at saving the shipyards and forwarded the restructuring plans to the commission, meeting a crucial EU deadline.

Should Brussels fail to approve the restructuring plans, the yards -- under EU competition rules -- will be required to repay 2.1 billion euros (three billion dollars) in public subsidies.

Owned by the state, the communist-era yards in Gdynia and Szczecin are mired in debt.

Ukraine's powerful Industrial Union of Donbass (ISD) has bid to acquire Gdynia in order to merge it with the Gdansk shipyard it bought last year.

Mostostal Chojnice-Ulstein, a Polish-Norwegian consortium, is interested in the Szczecin yard.

But both investors want more public subsidies from the Polish government in order to push ahead with their privatisation and restructuring plans, risking rejection by the commission, which regulates competition in Europe.

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