PKN Lithuania unit argues with railway over tariffs
Lithuanian state-owned railways and PKN Orlen's PKNA.WA Mazeikiu Nafta said on Monday they were arguing about transport tariffs, but the refiner said its operations had not been disrupted, Reuters reports according to RZD-Partner.
Rail is the main means of transporting Mazeikiu's oil products to the Klaipedos terminal, some 100 km away, the refiner's chief export hub for western Europe and the United States.
Mazeikiu and Lithuanian railways have been in a dispute over the tariffs, set by a long-term agreement signed in 1999, since June, after the refiner said it had the right to apply discounted rates as it had raised volumes.
"We are doing business as usual, transportation of oil products has not been interrupted," said Mazeikiu spokesman Jacek Komar.
"We are negotiating tariffs with the railways, and, it seems, they are trying to put a pressure on us," he added.
Albertas Simenas, deputy director of Lithuanian railways, said the long-term deal was cancelled on September 1.
"We understand perfectly well that the refiner will have to halt within several days if we stop transporting oil products," Simenas told Reuters.
He said the decision to cancel the long-term agreement would mean Mazeikiu faced a more than 10 percent increase from rates effective until June. Komar told Reuters it was hard to predict the impact of the new tariffs on operational costs.
"We operate under the same tariffs as previously," he added.
Mazeikiu started unilaterally applying new, lower tariffs in June, saying it had the right to do so on the back of increased transport volumes after the refiner recovered from an October 2006 fire and got back to full rates.
However, the railways disputed the new tariffs, and said they would go to the court to claim what was owed, some 40 million litas ($16.98 million).
Mazeikiu refined 4.7 million tones of feedstock during the first six months of this year, a 47 percent increase from 3.2 million tones during the same period in 2007.
Rail is the main means of transporting Mazeikiu's oil products to the Klaipedos terminal, some 100 km away, the refiner's chief export hub for western Europe and the United States.
Mazeikiu and Lithuanian railways have been in a dispute over the tariffs, set by a long-term agreement signed in 1999, since June, after the refiner said it had the right to apply discounted rates as it had raised volumes.
"We are doing business as usual, transportation of oil products has not been interrupted," said Mazeikiu spokesman Jacek Komar.
"We are negotiating tariffs with the railways, and, it seems, they are trying to put a pressure on us," he added.
Albertas Simenas, deputy director of Lithuanian railways, said the long-term deal was cancelled on September 1.
"We understand perfectly well that the refiner will have to halt within several days if we stop transporting oil products," Simenas told Reuters.
He said the decision to cancel the long-term agreement would mean Mazeikiu faced a more than 10 percent increase from rates effective until June. Komar told Reuters it was hard to predict the impact of the new tariffs on operational costs.
"We operate under the same tariffs as previously," he added.
Mazeikiu started unilaterally applying new, lower tariffs in June, saying it had the right to do so on the back of increased transport volumes after the refiner recovered from an October 2006 fire and got back to full rates.
However, the railways disputed the new tariffs, and said they would go to the court to claim what was owed, some 40 million litas ($16.98 million).
Mazeikiu refined 4.7 million tones of feedstock during the first six months of this year, a 47 percent increase from 3.2 million tones during the same period in 2007.