Despite the rumours of the possible sale of Orlen Lietuva (former Mazeikiu Nafta) to a Russian company, the Lithuanian authorities once again confirmed that they are not planning to sell the Klaipedos Nafta oil products terminal to Orlen of Poland.  Furthermore, Lithuania’s Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius even said that there would be no great tragedy if the Polish company sold 25 pct Orlen Lietuva shares to the Russians.

The Minister of Energy Arvydas Sekmokas presented Lithuania’s position in regards to Orlen Lietuva and Klaipedos Nafta in a letter to the CEO of Orlen Lietuva Krystian Pater.  The statement published on the Ministry’s web site says, “In the letter the minister highlighted that the operating conditions of Orlen Lietuva cannot be improved at the expense of Lithuania’s energy security. The united opinion of the Lithuanian authorities state that it is against linking any improvement in commercial operating conditions of Orlen Lietuva with the company Klaipedos Nafta, which is strategically important for national security.”

The Minister also stated that Lithuania’s Government will put in extra efforts to try and solve the logistic problems of Orlen Lietuva only when the Polish PKN Orlen will commit to remain the shareholder of Orlen Lietuva in the long term.

Prime Minister Kubilius, on the other hand, expressed his opinion that he sees no problems if the Poles are looking into selling 25 pct of the Orlen Lietuva shares to the Russians.  The Prime Minister said to the Lithuania’s Public radio on 23 February, “About a year and a half ago I was told by Orlen’s executives that they might look into the possibility of agreements with some of Russia’s oil companies in exchange for the restoration of crude oil supply to Orlen Lietuva by pipeline, that they might be given a chance to purchase 25 pct of the shares or a similar stake. I do not see anything extraordinary in that since I remember that back in 1999, when Williams purchased a stake in Mazeikiu Nafta, the Americans also looked for similar opportunities. There is nothing new in that.”