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Saturday, 20.04.2024, 14:23
Lithuania to contest EU anti-trust fine on Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai
Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis
said that the government had also decided to "rebuild the
infrastructure", that is, the 19-kilometer track from the Mazeikiai crude
refinery, in northern Lithuania, to Renge in Latvia, which was dismantled back
in 2008.
"A decision was made to oblige Lietuvos
Gelezinkeliai to go (to court) for the fine to be annulled or
reduced," Masiulis told reporters after the Cabinet's meeting.
"As to restoring the functionality of the Renge section: Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai will have to work
out a project first and coordinate it with the European Commission, and the
government will then decide where to find the money," he said.
According to the minister, Lithuania has arguments for reducing the fine or
perhaps even annulling it altogether.
Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai CEO Mantas Bartuska said in
October that the state railway company was likely to start rebuilding the Renge
track shortly. He could not say how much this would cost the company. Earlier
estimates put the cost at around 20 million euros.
The European Commission imposed the fine on Oct. 2 and gave Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai three months to
draw up a plan to correct the situation and coordinate it with the EU's
executive body. The company has until Dec. 18 to challenge the decision before
the EU General Court.
Poland's oil group Orlen, which
filed a complaint with the Commission over the removal of the Renge stretch,
has welcomed Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai's
promise to rebuild it. Orlen's Lithuanian crude refinery used the route to
transport its oil products to Latvia and Estonia before the track was
dismantled in 2008.