Lithuanian Railways and Poland’s Orlen resume talks

The agreement to reopen the talks was made by LG CEO Stasys Dailydka and Orlen Lietuva’s CEO Ireneusz Fafara on Tuesday, a spokesman for Lithuania’s transport and communications minister confirmed to BNS.

“Minister (Rimantas Sinkevičius) instructed the railway chief to resume the discussions. The issue was discussed between Dailydka and Fafara who agreed to reopen the negotiations and make them more active,” spokesman Ričardas Slapšys said.

Dailydka’s adviser Darius Tarasevičius told BNS that the talks would be resumed shortly.

“The negotiations will only take place if there are no preconditions. The negotiations will only be about new tariffs and a new contract,” said Tarasevičius.

The dispute between Orlen Lietuva and Lithuanian Railways concerns transportation rates for the refinery’s products to a terminal in Klaipėda, on the Baltic coast.

Orlen Lietuva has been unhappy with the rates it has been charged by Lithuanian Railways and has unilaterally decided to pay less than agreed in a contract.

On Monday, Sinkevičius stated that the two companies would have to reach separate agreement on costs of haulage and other services, with the dispute on claimed debts to be settled in court – even in case of a peace accord, it will have to receive judicial approval.

LG says that Orlen Lietuva fails to comply with a freight transportation contract that was signed back in 2009 and is effective until 2024 and that the crude refinery owes the railway company around €30 million.