31 May 2004 12:43
COMMISSION FINDS MAZEIKIU NAFTA HAS NOT BEEN PRIVATIZED
VILNIUS. May 31 (Interfax) - A provisional commission of the Lithuanian Parliament or Sejm on investigating the
privatization of the Mazeikiu nafta oil company, currently under the management of Russia's Yukos, has found that
the company has in fact not been privatized.
acquire an additional issue of shares in Mazeikiu nafta after its
reorganization. "This was simply a handover of Mazeikiu nafta to
The commission concluded that a Sejm decision gave a strategic investor, U.S. company Williams International Company,
the right to
The project criticizes the activities of then-Prime Minister
Rolandas Paksas and the talks held by the ministers of economy and
Williams," the document states.
The commission found that the U.S. company and two of its subsidiaries, and also other businesses in 1998-2002,
received more than 220 million litai as payment for management, 21.6 million litai as interest for lending Mazeikiu
nafta 75 million litai and earned another $10 million by selling company shares.
Thus, Williams acquired a share package for $75 million, and sold it to Yukos for $85 million, according to the
commission.
finance, Eugenijus Maldeikis and Jonas Lionginas, with Williams. The commission has confirmed that responsibility for
the form of the privatization of Mazeikiu nafta lies on the last Sejm and ex-president Valdas Adamkus, who
"politically influenced major decisions."
The committee believes that Mazeikiu nafta suffered 750 million litai in losses while under Williams management from
1999 to the middle of 2002. Williams sold its shares and right to manage Mazeikiu nafta to Yukos in summer 2002, after
which the company started to make a profit.
The Sejm is expected to review the commission's conclusions on Tuesday.
[Interfax] |
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