[ad_1]
On September 29, the Supreme Court of Lithuania (SCL) rejected Achema’s appeal and confirmed the rulings of the Court of Appeal and the Kaunas Regional Court in 2015-2016. The courts ordered Achema to pay a total of $ 18,759 million. debt for LNG terminal fees valid in separate periods 2013-2015, as well as 6%. interest of the year.
The case was reopened after the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) ruled in April this year that state aid through the security component of the LNG terminal paid by users of the gas infrastructure is legal. and is in line with EU legislation.
According to the SCL, the issues raised by Achema regarding the company’s obligation to pay the LNG terminal surcharge are analogous to the case examined above, when in February 2016 the Supreme Court ordered Achema to pay the LNG terminal surcharge and late payment interest for January-August. 2013.
According to the SCL, during the examination of the previous case, it also approached the Constitutional Court, which in 2015 recognized the LNG terminal operating and financing model as lawful.
As a result, the arguments of the appeal, which again raise the question of the nature of the LNG terminal supplement, its compatibility as state aid with EU law, the assessment of the European Commission’s decision to harmonize state aid is rejected as unfounded “, ruled the SCL.
Until June 2015, Achema did not pay mandatory maintenance fees for the LNG terminal, citing an excessive financial burden. After the Constitutional Court ruled in April 2015 that the company should pay them, the plant paid Amber Grid a total of approximately 51.34 million LTL in 2015. euro of debt for the years 2013-2015.
The so-called LNG terminal supplement for the construction of the terminal was effective in 2013 and until December 2014, later it was replaced by the LNG terminal component, which was abolished as of early 2016, after being replaced by the gas capacity tax. .
Achema appealed to the courts against almost all decisions related to the maintenance of the LNG terminal. In July 2019, the group’s main shareholder, Lyda Lubienė, explained that the company’s largest shareholder, the Ministry of Energy, threatened to increase the terminal fee, which threatens the bankruptcy of Achema.
The company also highlights that the General Court of the European Union ruled on September 8, 2021 that state aid for the maintenance of the LNG terminal in 2016, 2017 and 2018 was “incompatible with the internal market and illegal”, therefore that the Lithuanian courts will have to repeal the decisions of the State Energy Regulatory Council, which determined the size of the LNG terminal component in 2016, 2017 and 2018 ”.
Achema’s state-owned Amber Grid, which charges a fee for the maintenance of the LNG terminal, owes 5,579 million in August this year. euros.
