Lithuanian Energy Minister Žygimantas Vaičiūnas says it was he and his ministry that made the decision to seek an out-of-court settlement with the French energy group Veolia.
The Lithuanian government and the French company have been involved in litigation over Veolia’s investments in Vilnius heating grid for about a decade.
“The idea of a settlement came from the Energy Ministry and myself,” Vaičiūnas told LRT RADIO on Monday. “We saw it as a good opportunity to reach a settlement, because doing so after the arbitration [in Washington] would have been much more difficult.”
Under the settlement, Veolia will drop its claims at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington and pay 35 million euros in damages to the Lithuanian state.
In return, the government will withdraw part of its 240.7-million-euro lawsuit filed in a Lithuanian court against the French group and its subsidiaries – Veolia Environnement, Veolia Energie International, Vilniaus Energija and Litesko.
The settlement does not cover Icor, which is not part of the Veolia Group, or individuals including former Vilnius Mayor Artūras Zuokas, Andrius Janukonis, and Linas Samuolis. The ministry’s claim against them will continue to be heard by Vilnius Regional Court.
Vaičiūnas confirmed that the remaining part of the claim against them may be worth around 50 million euros.
In the ICSID arbitration case, Veolia is seeking 102 million euros from Lithuania in damages for its investments in Vilnius district heating grid. A final ruling in the case was expected shortly.
The Energy Ministry said in a statement last week that the settlement “does not constitute an admission of liability by either party”.
“It is a pragmatic decision to avoid further costly and time-consuming litigation, ending a decade-long dispute between the Republic of Lithuania and Veolia,” it said.
So far, Lithuania has spent about 16 million euros on legal fees in the case.
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