Republic

MINSK, 16 May (BelTA) – The court hearing on the ownership of the process oil in the Polotsk-Ventspils pipeline that the Latvian company LatRosTrans owns has been postponed. The date of the hearing will be revealed later, representatives of the Belarusian company Polotsktransneft Druzhba told BelTA. A court hearing was supposed to take place on 16 May to consider substantial matters of the dispute but following a complaint LatRosTrans filed with the Latgalian district court against the Daugavpils court’s ruling to turn down LatRosTrans’ appeal to lift injunctive measures from the disputed process oil, the court hearing had to be postponed till case materials return to the Daugavpils court. The injunctive measures provide for arrest of the disputed process oil and the prohibition to do anything to drain or move the oil. The Latgalian district court held its hearing on 11 May. The court ruled that the complaint had been unsubstantiated and was subject to dismissing. BelTA has been told that the next court session is likely to take place in the Daugavpils court. BelTA reported earlier that the Latvian company LatRosTrans and the Belarusian company Polotsktransneft Druzhba dispute the ownership of the process oil. On 16 November 2010 LatRosTrans released an official statement about its plans to start draining the process oil from the Polotsk-Ventspils pipeline. The company claimed the ownership of the oil and legal rights to remove it from the pipeline. The same day LatRosTrans unilaterally rescinded the lease agreement of the office the company Druzhba (Polotsktransneft Druzhba at present) rented in Latvia and blocked the access to the Ventspils crude oil delivery and acceptance point. LatRosTrans started draining oil on 25 November. Evaluating actions of the Belarusian-Latvian company LatRosTrans, representatives of the Belarusian state petrochemical concern Belneftekhim said that the concern has documents to prove the Belarusian company’s ownership of the process oil. The documents have been signed, among others, by the Latvian side. The concern does not see any legal grounds to disclaim this right. Apart from that, specialists of the concern believe that LatRosTrans’ plans to replace the oil with a gas mixture will make pumping oil via the Polotsk-Ventspils pipeline impossible. After LatRosTrans started draining the process oil, the company Druzhba started collecting papers to protect its rights in court. Druzhba company filed the suit with the Daugavpils court on 3 December and the court arrested the process oil. LatRosTrans was forbidden to drain or move the process oil. On 29 March the Daugavpils court turned down LatRosTrans’ appeal to lift injunctive measures from the process oil and decided to leave the measures in place. Polotsktransneft Druzhba is the legal successor of the Novopolotsk-based oil transportation company Druzhba. Druzhba was converted into Polotsktransneft Druzhba in late 2010. The company specializes in transporting Russian oil from West Siberia, Tatarstan and the Volga region to Belarus (Naftan Oil Refinery). The pipelines the company operates also allow transit oil transportation to the Baltic states. The LatRosTrans company is a Latvian-Russian joint venture, in which Ventspils Nafta holds 66% of the shares and AK Transnefteprodukt 34% of the authorized fund. The company operates oil mains in Latvia. The oil mains are over 700 km long.

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