"PolotskTransneft Druzhba" demands compensation for losses from "LatRosTrans"
16/09/20110 views
On September 16, Minsk / Anna Kot - BELTA /. JSC "Polotsktransneft Druzhba" requests the Latvian court not only to recognise its ownership rights to 110 thousand tonnes of technological oil in the Polotsk-Ventspils main oil pipeline, but also to oblige LLC "LatRosTrans" to compensate for losses caused by the illegal displacement of over 40 thousand tonnes of oil. This was reported to a BELTA correspondent by the Belarusian joint-stock company.
Thus, JSC "Polotsktransneft Druzhba" has changed the subject of its claim against the Latvian-Russian company. Previously, the claim concerned only the ownership rights to the technological oil located in the Polotsk-Ventspils main oil pipeline owned by LLC "LatRosTrans" within the territory of Latvia. The case between "Polotsktransneft Druzhba" and "LatRosTrans" has been under consideration in Latvia since December last year. During this time, the date for the substantive consideration of the case has been postponed several times, including due to counterclaims filed by the Latvian-Russian company.
The Daugavpils court, which was scheduled to hear the case between "Polotsktransneft Druzhba" and "LatRosTrans" on its merits on September 15, decided to transfer the case to the Latgale Regional Court due to the change in the subject of the claim. The Latvian side has 10 days to appeal the court's decision. In this regard, the date for the consideration of the already amended claim of the Belarusian enterprise has not yet been set. It is expected that if there are no appeals from LLC "LatRosTrans", the hearing will take place in 2-3 months.
On November 16 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 its ownership rights to the technological oil and its "legal rights" to extract it from the pipeline. The LLC unilaterally terminated the lease agreement with the representative office of RUPTN "Druzhba" (currently JSC "Polotsktransneft Druzhba") in Latvia, thereby restricting its access to the Ventspils receiving and dispatch point. On November 25, LLC "LatRosTrans" began draining the oil.
Commenting on the actions of the Latvian-Russian company, Belneftekhim concern reported that it possesses documents confirming the ownership rights of the Belarusian enterprise to technological oil, signed, among others, by the Latvian side, and sees no legal grounds for disputing this right. Furthermore, concern specialists expressed the opinion that the displacement of oil from the pipeline and its filling with a mixture of gases would make it impossible to use the Polotsk-Ventspils section of the pipeline for pumping hydrocarbon raw materials.
In December of last year, the Daugavpils court accepted the lawsuit of NRUPTN "Druzhba" against LatRosTrans Ltd. for the recognition of property rights and the prohibition of the use of movable property, and subsequently seized the technological oil. Thus, the Latvian-Russian company was prohibited from taking actions aimed at draining and moving technological oil from the pipeline within the territory of Latvia.
Polotsktransneft Druzhba OJSC is the successor to the Novopolotsk Republican Unitary Enterprise for Oil Transportation (NRUPTN) "Druzhba", which was reorganized into Polotsktransneft Druzhba OJSC at the end of 2010. The main task 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 allow for the transit transportation of oil to the Baltic countries.
LatRosTrans Ltd. is a Latvian-Russian joint venture in which Ventspils Nafta JSC owns 66% and Transnefteprodukt OJSC owns 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.-0-
BELTA