Legislation, Lithuania, Transport

The Vilnius Regional Court on December 21 dismissed the claim brought by the company and its shareholders Anatoly Yunicky and Nadezhda Kosareva. The spouses, who reside in Moscow, each sought 3.5 mln euros in non-pecuniary damages and Rail Skyway Systems claimed another 3 min euros. 

According to the court's ruling, the Financial Crime Investigation Service, or FNTT, in October 2014 opened a pre-trial investigation based on information from the Bank of Lithuania that Rail Skyway Systems had distributed shares of Euroasian Rail Skyway Systems Ltd., a UK-registered firm headed and owned by Yunicky, without the necessary permits, but closed the probe in May 2017 because of a lack of sufficient evidence. 

Yunicky and Kosareva told the court that the investigation, which lasted for two years and seven months instead of the planned six months, paralyzed the company's operations and tarnished "the good name and reputation" of the CEO. 

The court ruled, however, that there were sufficient grounds for opening the pre-trial investigation and that it took longer than expected because the authorities had difficulty questioning Yunicky. The man left Lithuania in late 2014 and could not be questioned until September 2016. 

The central bank informed law-enforcement bodies in 2014 that Lithuanians had been invited on a website to invest in next-generation string transport by buying shares in Euroasian Rail Skyway Systems without a prospectus approved by a competent authority.

Rail Skyway Systems back in 2014 had plans to build a laboratory for trains running on "string tracks" on a plot of land in Siauliai, but the city terminated the contract amid doubts about the investor's transparency. 

The Vilnius court's ruling can be appealed to the Lithuanian Court of Appeals within 30 days.