EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Legislation, Lithuania, Railways, Transport

He said that legal analysis is currently under way to explore the possibility to claim the compensation from Lithuania but that the European Commission’s ruling is not yet available, so the Latvian side has yet to decide on how to proceed.

The rail company’s representative indicated, however, that resumption of rail traffic on the Mazeikai-Renge line is the Latvian rail company’s priority and the size of the compensation would depend on how quickly the rail tracks are rebuilt.

“Lithuania’s rhetoric is understandable of course, especially given that the neighbor country’s media are already saying that the fine and possible compensation might have to be paid not from the rail company’s budget, but the state budget, or taxpayers’ pockets,” the LDz representative said.

As reported, Mantas Bartuska, CEO of Lithuania’s state-run rail company Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways, LG), said that LDz attempts to claim any compensation from Lithuania for dismantling the Mazeikai-Renge railroad section would be pointless.

"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.

He also said that LG would appeal the size of the fine imposed by the European Commission for dismantling the rail tracks, which Lithuania might start rebuilding soon.

"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.

It has also been reported that the EU Commission has fined Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai with EUR 27.87 million for breaching the EU's competition rules, saying that the state railway company "failed to show any objective justification" for the removal of the rail track to Renge, in Latvia. The decision still can be appealed.

At the same time, any person or company that has been affected by this deed may apply for compensations for loss.

Latvijas Dzelzcels representative Maris Ozols told LETA that the company is still assessing the situation and estimating loss caused by removal of the rails. The company does not exclude demanding compensations from the Lithuanian railway company.

Latvia has presented Lithuania with an official note over the removal of the rail tracks between Mazeikiai and Renge. Lithuania dismantled the aforementioned railway section in 2008. Latvia claims that by doing so, Lithuania unfairly restricted Latvia’s competitiveness in the rail freight transportation market.