On November 3, Minsk /Anna Kot - BELTA/. The Latgale Regional Court (Latvia) will consider the merits of the case concerning the disputed technological oil in the Polotsk-Ventspils main oil pipeline on November 24 of the current year, as reported to BELTA correspondent by JSC "Polotsktransneft Druzhba".
The Belarusian joint-stock company requests the Latvian court not only to recognize the ownership right to 110 thousand tons of technological oil in the Polotsk-Ventspils oil pipeline but also to oblige LLC "LatRosTrans" to compensate for the losses caused by the illegal displacement of more than 40 thousand tons of oil.
Thus, JSC "Polotsktransneft Druzhba" has changed the subject of the claim against the Latvian-Russian company. Previously, it only concerned the ownership right to the technological oil located in the Polotsk-Ventspils main oil pipeline owned by LLC "LatRosTrans" on the territory of Latvia. The case between "Polotsktransneft Druzhba" and "LatRosTrans" has been heard in Latvia since December of last year. During this time, the date for considering the merits of the case has been postponed several times, including due to counterclaims by the Latvian-Russian company.
On November 16 of last year, LLC "LatRosTrans" issued an official statement on its intention to begin displacing technological oil from its section of the Polotsk-Ventspils oil pipeline. The company declared ownership of the technological oil and "legal rights" to its removal from the pipeline. The LLC unilaterally terminated the lease agreement with the representative office of the Novopolotsk Oil Transport Enterprise "Druzhba" (currently JSC "Polotsktransneft Druzhba") in Latvia, thereby restricting its access to the Ventspils receiving and dispatching point. On November 25, LLC "LatRosTrans" began draining the oil.
Commenting on the actions of the Latvian-Russian company, the concern "Belneftekhim" stated that it possesses documents confirming the Belarusian enterprise's ownership of the technological oil, signed by the Latvian side among others, and sees no legal grounds for disputing this right. Furthermore, specialists from the concern expressed the opinion that displacing oil from the pipeline and filling it with a mixture of gases would make it impossible to use the Polotsk-Ventspils oil pipeline section for pumping hydrocarbon raw materials.
Last December, the Daugavpils court accepted the claim filed by Druzhba enterprise against LatRosTrans LLC, seeking recognition of property rights and prohibition of the use of movable property, and subsequently imposed an arrest on technological oil. Thus, the Latvian-Russian company was prohibited from taking actions aimed at draining and moving technological oil from the oil pipeline within the territory of Latvia.
PolotskTransneft Druzhba OJSC is the legal successor of the Novopolotsk Republican Unitary Enterprise for Oil Transportation (NRUPTN) Druzhba, which was reorganized into PolotskTransneft Druzhba OJSC at the end of 2010. The main objective of the joint-stock company is the transportation of Russian oil from the West Siberian region, Tatarstan, and the Volga region to Belarus (Naftan OJSC). The oil pipelines operated by the organization also facilitate the transit transportation of oil to the Baltic countries.
LatRosTrans LLC is a Latvian-Russian joint venture in which Ventspils Nafta JSC holds 66% and Transnefteproduct AK OJSC holds 34% of the charter capital. The enterprise ensures the transportation of oil and petroleum products through main pipelines within the territory of Latvia. The length of LatRosTrans' main pipelines exceeds 700 km.
BELTA