Transport Minister Rokas Masiulis says that Latvians’ demand that Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai (Lithuanian Railways, LG) pay them over 82 million euros for the dismantling of a railway track to Renge a decade ago has come as a surprise to him and more: it was “a stab in the back”, according to him.
LG said that it had received a claim from Latvijas Dzelzcels (Latvian Railways) for 57 million euros in compensation for lost profits due to the dismantling of the track.
However LDz Cargo, a subsidiary of the Latvian company, announced its demand for another 25.4 million euros.
The European Commission last year imposed a fine of 27.87 million euros on LG for hindering competition on the rail freight market by dismantling the Renge track in 2008. The Lithuanian state railway company paid the fine in early January after filing an appeal to the EU’s General Court in Luxembourg against the Commission last December. (BNN/Business World Magazine)
