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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Thursday, 28.03.2024, 11:32

Achema contests LNG capacity charge

BC, Vilnius, 10.02.2016.Print version
Lithuania's fertilizer manufacturer Achema, the country's largest natural gas consumer that last year began to pay Klaipeda liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal charges after having refused to do so for two years, continues to contest the legality of these charges, even though the burden for the company has eased by 7-8 million euros since the start of the year 2016, informs LETA.

Achema's lawyer said that the company had contested a gas capacity charge that replaced in January a LNG terminal maintenance charge.

 

"It has already been contested. We find it unacceptable. Certain regulations, in place since the start of the year, are scandalous. I mean the obligation to cover losses incurred by a state-owned company (Lietuvos Energijos Gamyba) due to gas trade," Gintaras Balciunas told BNS.

 

"In our opinion, there is a great deal of problems in the legal regulation. Competition is distorted in the market and selective aid is granted to certain state-controlled entities," he said.

The lawyer said that Achema had filed its complaint with the Vilnius Regional Administrative Court.

 

The Lithuanian Administrative Court ruled last week that Achema had to repay its 11.6-million-euro debt to the gas transmission system operator Amber Grid for the construction of the Klaipeda LNG terminal. The fertilizer manufacturer last year paid the money and all other terminal-related debts, totaling around 51.34 million euros and covering the years 2013 to 2015.

 

Achema's LNG terminal-related costs have declined by around 7-8 million euros due to the new gas capacity charge in place since January. This burden will be reduced by another 5 million euros after Litgas, the gas trade arm of the state-owned energy group Lietuvos Energija, signs a revised LNG supply contract with Norway's Statoil.

 

The Constitutional Court ruled last April that Achema had to pay LNG-terminal related charges.






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