As it was anticipated the extraordinary shareholder meeting of Leo LT have voted in favour of the Leo LT liquidation.  The vote took place in the morning of September 4.  The representative of the private investor form the NDX Energija voted against a draft resolution proposed by the government but they were in minority.

The Leo LT was founded in May 2008 as a tool to create a planned new nuclear power plant in Lithuania and to connect Lithuania’s electricity market with the EU electricity grid via Sweden and Poland.  The government owns 61.7 percent of shares in Leo LT and NDX Energija hold the remaining 38.3 percent.  NDX Energija contributed its shares in VST to Leo LT, as well as around 600 million Litas in dividends paid by VST in July 2008.

The private investor from the NDX Energija suggested using restitution for the Leo LT liquidation.  However, the government expects that the liquidation of Leo LT would allow bringing all of its subsidiary energy companies under the state’s control and would pave the way for de-monopolising the energy sector and opening it up for competition.

Deputy Energy Minister Henrikas Bernatavicius said that  ‘I was authorised to vote in this way by the Minister of Energy and the Government (…) By this decision, the government clearly indicated that all allegations that it does to actually intend to liquidate Leo LT are absolutely groundless.  We would also like to draw your attention that NDX Energija, contrary to what it had said publicly on more than one occasion, voted against the decision to liquidate Leo LT’.

According to Ignas Staskevicius, the head of NDX Energija said that today’s vote is not beginning of the liquidation of the Leo LT yet:  ‘This is a political declaration adopted by the government with its own votes alone. No actual liquidation has got underway. The status of the company has not been changed to that of a company undergoing liquidation and no liquidator has been appointed.’

“Based on my calculations and on data from Lietuvos Energija (Lithuanian Energy), the separation of the [Kaunas and Kruonis] power plants will not be completed until next May. This means that the scenario proposed by the state would not occur for least another year,” NDX Energija’s head said to BNS.