Lietuvos Kuras to be privatized for a song

VILNIUS - Lithuania's need to up state revenue will not be helped much by the one-litas ($0.25) privatization price tag put on the debt-riddled Lietuvos Kuras fuel company. But the government's approval on Oct. 20 to peddle the state's 67 percent of shares in the company to Dutch investors for the minuscule sum may actually be a deal both sides can live with.

Lietuvos Kuras, which has over 120 filling stations in Lithuania, has been swimming in debt. A spokesperson at the country's State Property Fund confirmed that Lietuvos Kuras' liabilities came to more than 150 million litas by July 1, and it continues to grow. The cash-strapped state has since taken on 18.8 million litas itself to ease the company's situation.

Considering the debts, dumping the ailing company off on the Netherlands' Koepke International Holdings and D.C. Berkel for one litas did not seem like such a bad deal after all. The Dutch investors have also reportedly agreed to throw 10 million litas into Lietuvos Kuras' working capital and take care of some of the debts.

"The contract is expected to be signed in the last week of October," a spokesperson from the State Property Fund told TBT.

Lietuvos Kuras General Director Raimundas Barcevicius also seemed relieved by the government's decision to approve the privatization program for the company.

"We've survived only because of miracles," Barcevicius told the business daily Verslo Zinios. "The fuel supply in our petrol stations is almost depleted. But we are not going to wait around for [the investors] with our hands folded. We have succeeded in getting a new agreement with Mazeikiu Nafta leaders. So in the next few days we will straighten up a bit."