EU spotlights Baltic rail-freight firms in anti-trust probe
(RIGA) - The European Commission announced Thursday that it was probing rail-freight companies in the Baltic states suspected of violating competition law.
"The Commission has reason to believe that the companies concerned may have violated EU antitrust rules that prohibit cartels and restrictive business practices and/or the abuse of a dominant market position," it said in a statement.
The Commission is the executive arm of the 27-nation European Union and polices the bloc's anti-cartel regulations. It has the power to impose hefty fines on companies found to be at fault.
It said that its experts had carried out unannounced inspections at the premises of companies involved in the region's rail-freight sector.
It did not identify the companies concerned nor say in which of the Baltic states -- Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia -- it had taken action.
But media in Latvia reported that spot-checks had been conducted at the offices of Latvian state rail firm LDz.
Neighbouring Lithuania's state rail firm Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai later confirmed in a statement that it had been inspected from Tuesday to Thursday.
It said that the Commission had acted on a complaint by Polish energy group PKN Orlen, which took over Lithuania's only oil refinery in 2006 and has been at loggerheads with the authorities over rail logistics.
"These claims are unfounded and arbitration courts in Lithuania have confirmed that," Lietuvos Gelezinkeliai said, claiming that calling in the Commission amounted to unfair pressure.
The two sides have wrangled over improving rail transport to a Lithuanian oil terminal owned by Orlen at Butinge, near the Latvian border, which the refinery uses to export its output.
Orlen has likewise been trying to get Latvia to boost rail links.
"The fact that the Commission carries out such inspections does not mean that the companies are guilty of anti-competitive behaviour nor does it prejudge the outcome of the investigation itself," the Commission statement noted.