Poland's shipyards helped supply the muscle crucial to overthrowing communism, but they have struggled since 1989 and two of the largest are still in government hands and looking desperately for a buyer, reports Jan Cienski .

The historic Gdansk shipyard, cradle of the Solidarity labour union, has been bought by Ukraine's Donbass group, but yards in Szczecin and Gdynia are still unsold. The government is determined to get rid of them, under pressure from the European Commission, which is threatening to demand repayment of billions of euros in past state aid unless they are privatised.

Zlomreks, a scrap metal company, backed out of negotiations to buy both yards last week, claiming they could not be made profitable even with extensive government help. The government has invited in potential investors and hopes to meet the Commission to explain the delay in selling them.

"There is no agreement on our part to see the shipyards go bankrupt," said Aleksander Grad, the Polish Treasury minister. "It is not a problem of the Polish government. The problem lies with the economic condition of the shipyards and with the interest of investors; we can't force anyone to buy the yards."