RIGA (BNS) – The Latvian Privatization Agency's (LPA) council has approved a government resolution draft on solving a debt issue between the state companies Latvenergo and Latvijas Kugnieciba (LASCO, Latvian Shipping Co.).
The draft calls for applying administrative measures to settle the problem, said LPA Privatization Process Director Andrejs Tiknuss.
Tiknuss declined to predict when the draft could be submitted to the government for consideration.
LPA Legal Director Viktors Sadinovs told BNS earlier that the decision would cause a loss to LASCO, but noted that its accounting figures showed the shipping company had made provisions for the debt.
LASCO's President Andris Klavins told BNS earlier this week the company did not see a point in giving up its claim on Latvenergo. He conceded the company had provisions for the debt but reiterated that LASCO still wanted to regain at least the basic sum of the debt, which is $37 million.
Latvenergo became indebteded to LASCO in 1992 when it did not pay for natural gas it received from LASCO through Latvijas Gaze (Latvian Gas). The debt together with penalties now exceeds $52 million.
