Lithuanian Finance Ministry yet to decide on Deloitte's bid to appraise Snoras shares

Minority investors expect that if the company is named the winning bidder, it will at least assign this job to a unit that has not worked with Snoras.

The central bank governor, Vitas Vasiliauskas, has said publicly that Deloitte has recently advised Simon Freakley, the state-hired temporary administrator of Snoras.

The terms and conditions of the tender launched by the Finance Ministry do not allow awarding the contract to specialists who have had any relations with Snoras in the past three years.

Rasa Jakilaitienė, advisor to the finance minister, said that there was no final decision yet as to whether Deloitte Lietuva, the sole bidder, qualified as an appraiser of the nationalized shares.

"We have asked Deloitte Lietuva to submit certain additional documents this week. If we receive those documents, it is possible that the bid will be opened by the end of this week," she said.

There is speculation in the market that other companies did not bid for the contract because the terms and conditions provide that the appraiser will be held liable for losses if it is proved that the valuation is incorrect. The "fair price" will be used as a reference while compensating shareholders for their shares in Snoras that were taken over by the state last autumn.

It is being speculated that the shares may be valued at zero or a symbolic price.