Vilnius - Lithuania threatened Wednesday to delay Russia's
entry to the World Trade Organization and Russia's future agreements
with the European Union, if Moscow gives a preferential treatment to
its ports on the Baltic Sea.
'The possible segregation of the Baltic States' ports from the
other ports on the Baltic Sea coastline would contradict to the WTO
practices of free and fair competition,' the Lithuanian foreign
ministry told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa on Wednesday.
'Failure to comply with the WTO practices would also affect
Russia's efforts to conclude a post-PCA agreement with the EU as
quickly as possible,' a statement sent to dpa said.
Last week, Russia said it wanted to start using its own Baltic Sea
port of Ust-Luga to move oil and coal products by 2015. Russia has
been developing the port since 1997, so that it won't have to use oil
ports in the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
'By 2015 we will have enough capacity to ship oil products through
our own ports,' said Russia's Transport Minister Igor Levitin. At the
moment, the Baltic ports handle around 80 per cent of Russian oil
products.
Russia closed the oil pipeline to Ventspils port in 2003 and
stopped shipping oil to Mazeikiu oil refinery in 2006. Last year
Russia drastically cut the volume of oil shipped through Port of
Tallinn's Muuga port.
'We have.. a task to completely discontinue oil and coal exports
through the Baltic States and increase the capacity of doing it
through our ports,' Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ivanov was quoted
as saying during the naval issues board session of Russian government
in St Petersburg.
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