The Vilnius Regional Court heard the case behind closed doors. Following Monday's announcement of the decision, the court is now to appoint an expert, with both parties to the dispute to propose their candidates, Vilius Bernatonis, a lawyer representing the state, told BNS.
Judge Romualda Janovičienė, who heard the case, told BNS that she could not disclose the reasons for the decision, because the case contained a great deal of confidential information. Besides, this is only an interim decision, she said.
In March 2011, The Energy Ministry asked the court to start an investigation into the activities of Lietuvos Dujos, which is controlled by Germany's E.ON Ruhrgas and Russia's Gazprom. The Lithuanian state holds a minority stake.
The ministry asked, among other things, to dismiss Gazprom-delegated Valery Golubev and Kiril Seleznev from Lietuvos Dujos' management board for allegedly breaching their duty to avoid conflicts of interest and failing to act for the benefit of all shareholders, not only Gazprom.
The ministry also asked the court to oblige Lietuvos Dujos to open talks with Gazprom on the lowering of gas prices and the terms of gas transit to Kaliningrad, and to carry out other actions to ensure that the company negotiates the most favorable prices of natural gas supply and transit in the future.
It also asked the court to dismiss Lietuvos Dujos CEO Viktoras Valentukevičius, if the actions of the company and its management were found to be improper.
An arbitration tribunal in Stockholm dismissed Gazprom's claims against Lithuania, including claims for damages, and acknowledged the government's right to initiate an investigation into Lietuvos Dujos' activities at the Vilnius Regional Court. However, according to the Energy Ministry, the tribunal stated that gas price issues could not be examined during the investigation, saying that the government should submit these issues to the tribunal.
The Lithuanian government has filed a formal complaint to the European Commission over possible unfair pricing and abuse of market dominance by Gazprom.
E.ON Ruhrgas International owns 38.9 percent of shares in Lietuvos Dujos, Gazprom holds 37.1 percent and the Lithuanian Energy Ministry holds 17.7 percent. Lietuvos Dujos is quoted on the blue-chip Main List of the NASDAQ OMX Vilnius stock exchange.
