BERLIN, Aug 22 Reuters Germany39;s stateowned Deutsche Bahn could be prevented from financially supporting its lossmaking freight operator DB Cargo following a decision by EU competition regulators, German government and supervisory board sources said.

According to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper the aid would have to stop from next year.

A spokesperson for the European Commission said an investigation is ongoing and it would not further comment on the outcome or the timing of a final decision at this point.

We are in close and constructive contact with German authorities, she added.

Under a profit and loss transfer agreement dating from 2012, Deutsche Bahn covers losses at DB Cargo, which has rapidly lost market share in recent years and accounts for less than half of rail freight transport in Germany

The European Union opened an investigation in 2022 into whether German support for DB Cargo, whose losses have been running into the billions of euros for years, could have given it an advantage after receiving a complaint.

A key point in the probe proceedings is the prompt cancellation of the profit and loss transfer agreement between DB AG and DB Cargo, said a German government representative on the EU decision.

An official decision is due in October.

Deutsche Bahn did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A transport ministry spokesperson said the German government and the railway company agree that the yearslong crisis at DB Cargo had to be…