Lithuanian authorities discriminate against Belarusian construction company
Lithuanian special services did not allow the alliance of the Kaunas company KRS and its Belarusian partner to further fight for a contract for the construction of a 165-kilometer gas pipeline between Lithuania and Poland.
This was reported by TUT.BY, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
KRS's proposal for the tender turned out to be the lowest in cost ($75 million), but due to the participation of Belarusians, it does not meet national security criteria.
The head of the construction company KRS, Darius Vilimas, said that the Belarusian company was chosen as a possible partner because it is one of the best gas pipeline builders in the post-Soviet space.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus protested, summoning the charge d'affaires of Lithuania,
“The arguments given by the Lithuanian side to justify the decision taken are frankly unfriendly and create a dangerous precedent for the politicization of bilateral interaction in the economic sphere,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Alexander Pugachev, a member of the board of directors of Beltruboprovodstroy OJSC, stated that “Belarus always defends its companies participating in international projects.”
The task of the potential winner of the bid, which will be determined during August of this year, is to construct a gas pipeline with a length of 165 kilometers and a diameter of 700 millimeters on Lithuanian territory - from the Jauniunai compressor station in the Širvinti region to the Lithuanian-Polish border in the Ladzijai region. Construction is scheduled to begin in October this year and be completed by the end of 2021. The project's customers are gas transportation companies from Lithuania and Poland - Amber Grid and Gaz-System.
The Belarusian company Beltruboprovodstroy built a gas pipeline branch to Vilnius back in Soviet times.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.