Lithuania: Court upholds state’s EUR 240mn claim against Veolia

Lithuania’s Court of Appeal has upheld a ruling of the Vilnius Regional Court in the Energy Ministry’s case against French energy group Veolia, Baltic News Network reports. The court rejected appeals from Veolia, Vilniaus Energija, and Litesko against the Energy Ministry’s claim of EUR 240mn in compensation for damages caused to the state. The Court of Appeal ruled that Lithuanian courts had international jurisdiction and that there was no legal basis to refer the case to arbitration courts. The state seeks to prove that Veolia and Lithuania’s Icor Group unlawfully took over control of heating suppliers in several Lithuanian municipalities in 1993-2003.