The final decision on the disputed oil in the Polotsk-Ventspils pipeline will be made in October 2013

August 13, Minsk / Anna Kot - BELTA /. The final decision on the disputed oil in the Polotsk-Ventspils pipeline section will be made by the Supreme Court of Latvia in October 2013. This was announced to a BELTA correspondent by Vasily Drobotov, Director of Polotsktransneft Druzhba OJSC. "The lifting of the arrest by the Supreme Court of Latvia on technological oil in the Latvian section of the Polotsk-Ventspils main oil pipeline does not mean the end of the consideration of this case by the Latvian judicial authorities. The final decision will be made during the court hearing in October 2013," noted the head of the Belarusian joint-stock company, commenting on the decision made last week by the Supreme Court of Latvia to lift the arrest on the disputed technological oil located in the section of the Polotsk-Ventspils main oil pipeline owned by the Latvian-Russian company LatRosTrans. At the same time, Vasily Drobotov noted that the enterprise and its owner were prepared for such a turn of events. "Various developments were expected. We were ready for this option too," he said. The decision on the further actions of the enterprise in connection with the current situation will be made by its owner. Polotsktransneft Druzhba OJSC is part of the Belneftekhim concern, and 100% of the enterprise's shares belong to the state. As previously reported, Polotsktransneft Druzhba OJSC and the Latvian-Russian company LatRosTrans LLC are claiming technological oil in two oil pipelines in Latvia: Polotsk-Ventspils and Polotsk-Biržai-Mažeikiai. The dispute between the companies arose due to LatRosTrans LLC's intention to displace the technological oil, which is on the balance sheet of the Belarusian enterprise, from its section of the Polotsk-Ventspils oil pipeline. In December 2011, the Latgale District Court rejected the claims of Polotsktransneft Druzhba OJSC for recognition of ownership and possession rights to 110 thousand tons of technological oil in the main oil pipelines located in Latvia, and for the recovery of damages from LatRosTrans LLC in the amount of 13.04 million lats, caused by the displacement of 40 thousand tons of technological oil from the Polotsk-Ventspils main oil pipeline section. This court decision did not enter into legal force, as it was appealed by the Belarusian enterprise, which filed an appeal with the Civil Cases Department of the Supreme Court of Latvia. The date for its consideration was set by the court for October 2013. In turn, the Supreme Court, having considered the private complaint of the Latvian-Russian enterprise, decided to revoke the ban on oil displacement, leaving its arrest in force. Last week, the court decided to lift this arrest as well. This court decision is not subject to appeal. At the same time, Igor Stepanov, head of LatRosTrans LLC, announced his intention to continue the ongoing conservation of the Polotsk-Ventspils oil pipeline. The company plans to begin preparations for pumping out oil and cleaning the pipeline in the near future. Polotsktransneft Druzhba OJSC is the legal successor of the Novopolotsk Republican Unitary Enterprise for Oil Transportation (NRUPTN) "Druzhba", which was transformed into Polotsktransneft Druzhba OJSC at the end of 2010. The main task of the joint-stock company is the transportation of Russian oil from the West Siberian region, Tatarstan, and the Volga region to Belarus (Naftan OJSC). The oil pipelines operated by the organization also allow for the transit transportation of oil to the Baltic countries. LatRosTrans LLC is a Latvian-Russian joint venture in which Ventspils Nafta JSC owns 66% and Transnefteprodukt AK OJSC owns 34% of the charter capital. The enterprise ensures the transportation of oil and petroleum products through main pipelines in Latvia. The length of LatRosTrans's main pipelines exceeds 700 km.