Bpost to pay back €85m

Belgian mail carrier bpost plans to pay back about €85 million in aid from the Belgian government, reports L’Echo. The estimated amount of illegal state support received in 2011 and 2012 is included in a package of proposals to EU competition authorities that also foresees a new three-year distribution contract for the company, according to the newspaper. The financial daily claims that the federal government approved the package last Friday after it was introduced by supervisory minister Jean-Pascal Labille. Bpost has already paid back in the region of €300 million to the federal government, having been found guilty by the European Commission of receiving illegal state support up to 2010.