英政府開始爲塔塔鋼鐵英國公司尋找買家
The race has begun to find a private buyer for Tata Steel UK after Britain’s biggest steel manufacturer was put up for sale by its Indian parent company late on Tuesday night.
爲塔塔鋼鐵英國公司(Tata Steel UK)尋找私營部門買家的行動已經啓動。此前在本週二晚，這家英國最大的鋼企被其印度母公司掛牌出售。
The future of about 15,000 workers is up in the air after the announcement, which prompted warnings about the potential devastation of the steel industry.
掛牌出售的決定宣佈後，約1.5萬名工人的前途被打上了問號，這促使一些人警告稱，英國鋼鐵業可能會陷入崩潰。
The British government signalled it would if necessary intervene to protect the national economic interest amid concerns it only has weeks — rather than months — to find a buyer.
英國政府表示，若有必要將出手干預，以保護國家經濟利益。人們擔心，英國政府只有幾周時間——而不是幾個月時間——找到接手的買家。
“We remain committed to working with Tata and the unions on a long-term sustainable future for British steelmaking,” said the London government and the Welsh assembly in a joint statement.
倫敦政府和威爾士議會在一份聯合聲明中表示：“我們仍致力於與塔塔(Tata)及工會合作，爲英國鋼鐵製造業謀求長期的可持續的未來。
“Both the UK and Welsh governments are working tirelessly to look at all viable options to keep a strong British steel industry at the heart of our manufacturing base.”
“英國政府和威爾士政府都在不知疲倦地展開工作，考察所有可行選項，以確保強大的英國鋼鐵業在我們製造業基礎的核心佔據一席之地。”
Officials have denied that they could “nationalise” or even “part-nationalise” the business — language redolent of 1970s interventionism — but the government is open to a significant intervention to try to save the company.
英國官員否認他們可能會將該公司“國有化”或“部分國有化”（這種措辭讓人想起上世紀70年代的干預主義），但英國政府對旨在拯救該公司的大力度干預持開放態度。
This could involve direct involvement of some sort, although would have to meet EU state aid rules.
這可能會涉及某種形式的直接干預，儘管前提是必須符合歐盟(EU)的國家援助規定。
One option is to provide backing for a workforce buyout of the business, which is losing about ￡1m a day at Port Talbot alone, the group’s biggest plant in South Wales.
其中一個選項是爲員工收購該公司提供資金支持。目前，僅是塔爾伯特港(Port Talbot)的鍊鋼廠每天就虧損約100萬英鎊。塔爾伯特港鍊鋼廠是該公司在南威爾士的最大鍊鋼廠。
But a private sector sale is the preferred solution, not least because taking responsibility for the steel plants could leave taxpayers on the hook for large losses while provoking state aid concerns.
不過，將該公司賣給私營部門是首選解決方案，尤其是考慮到政府背上鍊鋼廠的相關責任可能會令納稅人蒙受鉅額虧損並引發國家援助擔憂。
