Lithuania to rebuild railway link to Latvia

Lithuania to rebuild railway link to Latvia

By bne IntelliNews October 19, 2017

Lithuanian Railways (LG) will rebuild a 19-km section of rail tracks providing a shortcut to neighbouring Latvia, the company said on October 18.

LG’s decision to restore the tracks, which were dismantled in 2008, follows a fine of €28mn imposed on the company by the European Commission in early October. The Commission ruled that the dismantling of the tracks was an attempt by LG to push the Polish-owned Orlen Lietuva to haul production from the Mazeikai refinery to Lithuanian ports, using LG.

“It is likely that we will soon start rebuilding [of the section] to settle the issue," LG CEO Mantas Bartuska told a news conference, Leta reported.

The tracks provided convenient rail access to neighbouring Latvia. Polish-owned refiner Orlen Lietuva used the line to haul its product to Latvian ports, using another rail operator. Following the track removal, however, the Polish company faced using a much longer route to Latvia and in effect redirected transports to the Lithuanian port of Klaipeda.

The company has long said the dismantling of the line to Latvia was due to the line’s poor condition and did not affect the flow of goods between Lithuania and Latvia.

PKN Orlen also disputed Lithuanian Railways’ pricing of access to its infrastructure in a long-running dispute that at some point became a high-level flashpoint between the two countries and was only settled in June.

Read in IntelliNews Pro

Get IntelliNews Pro

Related Articles

Ghana becomes first African nation to export legal timber to EU under FLEGT licence

Ghana has issued its first timber legality licences, making it the first country in Africa and only the second in the world after Indonesia cleared to export timber to the European Union, reports ... more

Convicts at several Latvian prisons riot over ban on gaming consoles

Inmates in several Latvian prisons have staged protests believed to be sparked by upcoming restrictions on modern gaming consoles, Delfi and later local news agency LETA reported on August ... more

Latvian ex-cop arrested over offering bribe on behalf of blacklisted Russian

A former Latvian police officer with a criminal record was detained by Latvia’s Corruption Prevention Bureau (KNAB) over an alleged attempt to bribe an Interior Ministry official on behalf of a ... more

Dismiss

Chat with usLiveChat