Sinkevičius said that a European Commission representative told him that Lithuania would have two choices – to pay the fine (which, according to unofficial counts, may reach €43 million) and rebuild the stretch of railway to Renge or to split Lithuanian Railways into two companies.
In July of last year, Grybauskaitė said that Lithuanian Railways faced fines in the tens of millions of Euros and criticised the company’s poor cooperation with the European Commission’s investigation.
Grybauskaitė also said that the railway company had not tried to find a compromise with the EC.
Since 2013, the EC has been conducting an anti-monopoly investigation of Lithuanian Railways regarding the demolished stretch of tracks from Renge.
The Orlen oil refinery in Mažeikiai requested that the demolition of 19km of tracks be investigated by the EC because, according to the company, the decision reduced the competitiveness of the company’s products being exported to Estonia and Latvia.
The stretch of railway was demolished in 2008, allegedly due to its level of wear. When renewal work was delayed, the railway company offered lower tariffs for transportation through Joniškis.
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