RIGA - State and private shareholders in the Ventspils oil terminal were scheduled to meet this week and discuss a combined sale of their interests to a strategic investor.
Economy Minister Krisjanis Karins said he intended to meet with owners of Latvijas Naftas Tranzits, the largest shareholder of Ventspils Nafta, to decide whether the state and private shareholders, which for years have been at loggerheads, could form a combined block of shares that might entice an investor to the struggling terminal.
Karins told the Baltic News Service that, so far, he had not discussed the issue with LNT but the company had said it was willing to discuss the state's offer.
Currently LNT controls over 50 percent of Ventspils Nafta, while the state owns over 38 percent.
On March 1 the government authorized the Economy Ministry to launch negotiations with other Ventspils Nafta shareholders on forming a combined block of shares that could be held at an open auction. In making their decision, government ministers argued that the state should not be participating in the business. What's more, the Ventspils terminal, once one of Latvia's most strategically vital enterprises, has been in the red in recent years after Russia ceased pipeline exports via the Baltic state, thereby depriving the state of any dividend income from its stake.
Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis said that a combined block of shares would make the state's stake more attractive.
