> A state backed supplier is different to a subsidy

I can agree if we change it to "A state-backed supplier could be different to a subsidy".

Let's take Brazil, my home country, for example. The last government used tax-payers money to keep Petrobras from raising the gas prices for too long. You can call this a subsidy or not. I know I do. It's the same case: Petrobras is a state-backed company and look at what happened?

I know there is a lot of energy subsidies and if it was by me I'd say cut'em all and let the market figure it out.