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The Ministry of Energy announced that the lawsuit had been filed against Veolia Environnement, Veolia Energie International, Vilniaus Energija and the companies of the Litesko Group, as well as against the Icor Group and the people related to these companies.
“Such a case in Lithuania is unprecedented and is one of the first cases in which the state seeks compensation from a foreign investor and related persons for civil damages to the entire Lithuanian economy.” Corruption, trade in influence, unfair and anti-competitive agreements cause significant economic and reputational damage to the state, therefore, the objective is to compensate for the possible damage caused by these actions, “the ministry said in a statement.
The lawsuit transfers to the national courts the claims that Lithuania had made in 2017 in the counterclaim submitted to Veolia by the Washington Arbitration. After receiving and evaluating additional documents during the process, the amount of damage caused to the state increased from 130 million. up to 240 million euros euros
The lawsuit is filed in the Vilnius Regional Court after almost all EU member states, including Lithuania and France, signed an international agreement in May requiring investors and member states to withdraw their claims in arbitration under of bilateral investment protection agreements.
Lithuania seeks to demonstrate that Veolia and Icor illegally obtained leases for heat farms in ten Lithuanian municipalities in 1999-2003 and illegally benefited from heat consumers.
Lithuania claims that Veolia and Icor, through their representatives, made illegal payments to the country’s officials to lease the thermal power plant and obtained the leases through corrupt practices. Lithuania provided the court with evidence that Veolia had unfairly acted with Icor to obtain an unreasonable profit at the expense of consumers.
Evidence includes the one million dollar deals between Veolia and its long-term partner in Lithuania, Icor, according to which, in Lithuania’s opinion, no legal services were provided.
Lithuania seeks to demonstrate that Veolia and Icor illegally obtained leases for heat farms in ten Lithuanian municipalities in 1999-2003 and illegally benefited from heat consumers.
“Lithuania claims that the behavior of Veolia and Icor and other defendants was unfair and amounted to an abuse of their position as a provider of public services,” the ministry said.
Veolia, who started the case against the State of Lithuania in the Washington Arbitration in 2016, stated that the actions of the Lithuanian authorities violated the bilateral investment protection agreement between France and Lithuania. Veolia initially sought to earn 118 million from Lithuania. This amount was subsequently reduced to € 79 million. euros
Veolia has not yet withdrawn its claim in the Washington Arbitration: the process is scheduled to end in January 2020, but at Veolia’s request, the case was postponed to spring 2021.
In Lithuania’s intention to appeal to a national court, the government clarified the authority of the Ministry of Energy to represent Lithuania in mid-July.
In March this year, it was announced that the Vilnius Municipality and the Vilnius (VŠT) heating networks run by him from Veolia, which rented the capital’s heat economy in 2002-2017, are seeking to award up to LTL 560 million in Stockholm arbitration. euros
Veolia, for his part, claims that his investments have suffered as a result of the dishonest behavior of Lithuanian politicians and regulators, and is seeking damages in the Washington arbitration.
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