Mazeiku Nafta posts LTL 36 million loss

VILNIUS (BNS) - Lithuania's Mazeiku Nafta, operated by the US company Williams International, July 28 reported a loss of 36.3 million litas ($ 9.075 million) for the first half, down from 47.2 million litas in the same period last year.

Mazeikiu Nafta's turnover totaled 1.9 billion litas in the January-June period this year, up from 1.1 billion litas in the first six months of 1999, the company said in a statement.

Mazeiku Nafta, which comprises the Mazeikiai oil refinery, the Butinge oil import-export terminal and the Birzai-based pipelines company, paid 889 million litas in taxes in the first half of this year, up from 670 million litas a year earlier.

The first-half figures were calculated according to the Lithuanian accounting standards. Under the U.S. GAAP system, the first-half loss was 42.6 million litas, and turnover was 1.9 billion litas. According to the statement, the difference was due to different valuation of separate asset items on the balance sheet.

Under Lithuanian standards, Mazeiku Nafta lost 17.2 million litas in the first quarter of this year. The concern posted an audited loss of 130.9 million litas for the full year 1999.

Mazeiku Nafta's short- and long-term financial liabilities totaled 1.9 billion litas as of early July, including 1.2 billion litas in loans provided by the Lithuanian state, according to the statement.