Cargo, Competition, Lithuania, Markets and Companies, Port, Transport

"We are convinced that the accusations made by Kroviniu Terminalas (Cargo Terminal), a competitor operated by Achemos Grupe (Achema Group) concern (about the agreement running counter to the Competition Law) are ungrounded," Klaipedos Nafta said in a comment to LETA/BNS.

"We are certain that our contract with Klaipedos Nafta is not in violation of the Competition Law and is legitimate, it was thoroughly checked by lawyers prior to the signing," told Tomas Digaitis, spokesman for Orlen Lietuva noting that the company had not received a claim from Kroviniu Terminalas.

Earlier on Tuesday, Lietuvos Zinios daily said that Kroviniu Terminalas, which is part of Achemos Grupe, had last week turned to court over the contract between Klaipedos Nafta and Orlen Lietuva, which allegedly violates the Competition Law and prevents competition on the Klaipeda port market of light oil products.

Kroviniu Terminalas has also filed a claim of nearly 6 mln euros for the damage caused by illegal action, calling for the Klaipedos Nafta – Orlen Lietuva 2011 contract to be invalidated from the signing day.

Although the daily said that a Klaipeda court had decided to report the judicial proceedings to the European Commission and the Competition Council, spokesman for the court Kestutis Butvydas told  that the court was not hearing the dispute between Kroviniu Terminalas and Klaipedos Nafta. Ieva Racickaite, spokeswoman for the Competition Council, told that the body had not heard anything from the court, adding that it had not conducted a probe into legitimacy of the contract between Klaipedos Nafta and Orlen Lietuva.

The state owns 72.32% of Klaipedos Nafta's shares, which are quoted on the Main List of the Nasdaq Vilnius stock exchange.