Lithuania 'warns Russia' over pipeline closure

Aug 18, 2006, 15:03 GMT

Vilnius - Lithuania warned Russia on Friday that it may close a key transit railway line unless a Russian oil pipeline to Lithuania is repaired soon, local reports said.

An undersecretary at the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry, Albinas Januskas, warned Russian Embassy officials that Lithuania could begin repairs on the Moscow-Kaliningrad railway unless repairs to a key oil pipeline were expedited, Baltic News Service BNS said.

The railway, which crosses Lithuania, is the main transit artery between Russia and its Kaliningrad exclave. Passengers are subject to a facilitated-transit regime agreed by Russia and the EU which allows Kaliningrad residents access to Russia via without an EU transit visa.

Any interruption could strain relations between Moscow and Brussels. Kaliningrad transit was a key sticking-point in Russia-EU negotiations over Lithuania's EU accession in 2004.

The pipeline at the centre of the dispute, known as 'Druzhba' ('Friendship'), carries crude oil from Russia to the Lithuanian oil refinery of Mazeikiai. The pipe sprang a leak and was closed in late July, an incident which all sides called a 'technical problem.'

Doubts over this interpretation began when it was revealed that Druzhba was still supplying crude oil to Belarus. The Moscow Times then quoted the head of Russia's transit company Transneft, Semyon Vainshtok, as saying that the pipe might never be reopened.

Vainshtok subsequently claimed that he had been misinterpreted, according to Russian-language newspaper Telegraf. However, following his comments, Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas hinted that the closure could be seen as a political move, BNS reported.

The Mazeikiai refinery has seldom been out of the headlines this year. Once part of the former Yukos empire, it was sold to Polish firm PKN Orlen in May despite protests from Russian bankruptcy receivers.

Commentators viewed the government-approved deal as an attempt to increase Lithuania's energy security. Orlen has no crude-oil production facilities of its own, but is headquartered in fellow NATO and EU member Poland, making it a more politically acceptable partner.

Some observers interpret the pipeline closure as a Russian retaliation for the sale. Russian companies Rosneft and Lukoil were also reported to be interested in Mazeikiai, the Baltics' only refinery, which is currently being supplied by sea.

Neither Januskas nor the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry were available to comment on the report.