(WARSAW) - The Polish government on Thursday pleaded for more time to produce viable restructuring plans for three troubled shipyards, as the European Union inched closer to a decision that could send them bankrupt.

"We will be able to satisfy the demands of the European Commission ... if we have until the end of September to negotiate privatisation agreements with investors," Treasury Minister Aleksander Grad told reporters.

On Wednesday the EU's executive, the European Commission, which polices competition rules in the 27-nation bloc, gave Warsaw 24 hours to produce restructuring plans for three Baltic Sea shipyards, in Gdansk, Gdynia and Szczecin.

Otherwise, the Commission warned, Warsaw could be ordered as soon as July 16 to recover state aid the yards have received.

In June 2005, the Commission began investigating 2.1 billion euros in Polish state aid paid to the yards since 2002 -- although Warsaw says the sums were far lower.

EU rules on shipbuilding require such aid to be based on far-reaching restructuring plans, which must also include the participation of private investors.

"The restructuring programmes cannot be dealt with separately from the privatisation agreements, and we can't negotiate under such time pressure," said Grad.

If Brussels refused to give Poland more time, it would be "amount to the bankruptcy" of the country's iconic shipyards.

On Wednesday, the Commission's spokesman for competition issues Jonathan Todd warned Warsaw, saying: "We've had extra time, extra time has now expired."

"Unless all conditions are met then we will have no option than to go for a negative decision," he said.

After several previous efforts fell through, the Polish government has been struggling to come up with restructuring plans for the yards which would satisfy Brussels.

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