Prague- Poland will submit restructuring plans to save its ailing shipyards to Brussels on Friday before a European Commission deadline, said Treasury Minister Aleksander Grad.

The Baltic shipyards - famous as the birthplace of the Solidarity labour union that fought and toppled Poland's communist regime - have sentimental and historic value to many Poles.

The European Commission had given Poland until September 12 to come up with plans to restructure and privatize the yards, extending a previous deadline that Poland failed to meet.

If the plans are not approved by Brussels, the yards risk having to repay more than 2.3 billion euros (3.2 billion dollars) in state aid - a sum that would likely bankrupt facilities in Gdansk, Gdynia and Szczecin, and could mean unemployment for up to 60,000 people.

Grad met with investors on Thursday to discuss the plans, Polish Radio reported. The Ukrainian Industrial Union of Donbass - which already owns the Gdansk shipyard - wants to buy the Gdynia shipyard and merge the two facilities. Polish company Mostostal Chojnice wants to buy the shipyard in Szczecin.

Poland's government also recently approved 1.24 billion zloty (522 million dollars) in additional public aid, Polish Radio reported. But a spokesman from the European Commission - the EU's executive arm - reaffirmed on Friday that state aid must meet strict EU rules that require reducing production so that competition won't be destabilized.

The European Union has worked with Poland for four years to come up with a solution, and had said it had given Warsaw ample opportunities. (dpa)