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Thursday, 28.03.2024, 21:26
Lithuanian Railways to rebuild Renge tracks
"It is likely that we will soon start rebuilding the Renge stretch to settle the issue," LG CEO Mantas Bartuska told a news conference on Wednesday.
He could not specify the costs of the rebuilding efforts. Earlier calculations suggest the investment could total at about 20 million euros. Bartuska has earlier told BNS that two more railway tracks led to Latvia, used to a maximum of 20% of their capacity.
European Commissioner for competition Margrethe Vestager last week said in Lithuania that rebuilding would solve the problem of the removed Renge tracks.
Lithuania's officials publicly maintain the tracks, which were important for Orlen Lietuva, were dismantled for purely safety reasons.
After the European Commission (EC) imposed a 28-million-euro fine for Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian
Railways, LG) for competition violations, the state-run company's CEO Mantas
Bartuska does not rule out additional claims from Latvian railways, however,
dismisses them as vain without substantial grounds.
"We should understand that Latvians are our brothers and competitors.
They can name various sums, we heard hypothetically high sums, however, if
there are no grounds, they are useless. We intend to speak with Latvians
shortly. Will it help to solve this, we'll have to wait and see, what is
important to us is that we have partnership and good relations with Orlen and our colleagues in
Latvia," Bartuska told a news conference on Wednesday.
At the beginning of October, EC slammed LG
with a fine of nearly 28 million euros for dismantling a 19-km railway stretch
to Latvia in 2008. Brussels found this limited the possibility for Orlen Lietuva, to transport freight via
Latvian railways.
After the conclusion, Orlen Lietuva,
Latvian railways and other affected parties may file additional claims for
compensation of damages. Bartuska said the company was currently in talks with
Poland's Orlen in an effort to avoid
litigation.
Latvian railways and the Riga port are also considering claims against Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai.