Modernization paying off in Klaipeda

Following losses of 9.7 million litas (2.81 million euros) in 2001, Klaipedos Nafta (Klaipeda Oil), the state-run operator of the oil product terminal in the port of Klaipeda, announced an unaudited pretax profit of 42 million litas on revenues of some 127 million litas for 2002.

Jurgis Ausra, CEO of Klaipedos Nafta, declined to give more information on year-end results until after the company's general shareholders meeting.

The company also announced that this year it intends to raise authorized capital by 18 million litas and to start loading crude oil onto tankers. A draft government resolution on a new equity issue is expected to be submitted to the Cabinet next week.

The government plans to sell the new shares through a public offering, though it wants to sell the whole block to a single investor.

It is not ruled out that Yukos, Russia's second largest oil company, could acquire the new equity issue as the company has declared strategic interest in the modernized Lithuanian terminal.

Yukos is already operating the Lithuanian crude oil refining and transportation complex Mazeikiu Nafta (Mazeikiai Oil) and could become the main exporter of crude oil through the Klaipeda terminal.

Klaipedos Nafta, which has around $50 million in debts, operates the most technically advanced oil product terminal in the Baltics after completing a modernization project in 2002.

The terminal handled 6.7 million tons of oil products last year, a 30 percent increase over 2001.

Klaipedos Nafta hopes to increase throughput at the terminal to 7 million tons and to make a profit of 10 million litas to 11 million litas this year.

Klaipedos Nafta has an authorized capital of 325 million litas. The company's market capitalization was 120 million litas as of Feb. 13.