LEO LT

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The joint stock company Leo LT ( Lietuvos elektros organizacija ) is a Lithuanian state-controlled energy - holding at the initiative of the Lithuanian government in spring 2008 from the merger of the two electricity suppliers VST ( Vakarų skirstomieji tinklai , private) and Rytų skirstomieji tinklai (RST; majority in State property) as well as the state energy producer Lietuvos energija .

61.7% of the shares in the new company are owned by the state and 38.3% by the previous owner of VST, NDX Energija . A small fraction of the shares, less than 0.3%, are traded on the Vilnius Stock Exchange. The hydroelectric power plants in Kaunas ( Kauno hidroelektinė ) and Kruonis ( Kruonio hidroakumuliacinė elektrinė ) previously owned by the state power producer Lietuvos energija were spun off and remained state-owned.

Political background and disputes

The reason given for the formation of the group was the need, in view of the challenges posed by the closure of the Ignalina nuclear power plant on December 31, 2009, to have a large national player who should shoulder possible cooperation with other (state) companies to secure the Lithuanian energy supply can. The main focus is on the construction of transnational power lines to Poland and under the Baltic Sea to Sweden and the construction of a new nuclear power plant at the previous Ignalina location.

The necessity of establishing Leo LT has been very controversial in the Lithuanian parliament as well as in the public. The government was charged with acting to the detriment of the state and in favor of VST's shareholder, NDX Energija , which in turn is backed by Lithuania's largest national corporation , VP Grupė . A citizens' initiative that wanted to bring about a referendum to repeal the establishment of Leo LT failed because of the required number of at least 50,000 valid signatures within two months.

As early as June 2007, parliament cleared the way for the establishment of a large national energy supplier following the closure of the Ignalina nuclear power plant, which could take on the task of building a new nuclear power plant in international cooperation. The commission set up by the government, chaired by Minister of Economics Vytas Navickas , presented its proposals on December 20, 2007. After negotiations with NDX Energija , the result was to found the national energy supplier under a new name (and not under the umbrella of the existing Lietuvos energija ). This project required the amendment of the Atomic Energy Act passed in June 2007. This took place on February 25, 2008 through a fiercely contested parliamentary resolution in which the Liberals ruling with the Social Democrats spoke out against the project. On April 29, 2008, the founding contract for the formation of the new Leo LT holding company was signed and on May 27, 2008 the capital of the three founding companies was transferred to that of Leo LT (a total of almost 1.5 billion euros). At the end of September 2008, parliament decided to have the constitutional court review the legality of the Atomic Energy Act .

On 21 October 2008, the first declared CEO in the company's history, Rymantas Juozaitis (since May 20, 2008), surprising "for personal reasons" his resignation and was on 24 October by the former Director General of RST , Gintautas Mažeika replaced . As early as March 2009, with the new government , tensions and discussions about the management of the company intensified again. After some lower-ranking employees had already left during the month, Gintautas Mažeika announced his resignation on March 23, 2009, shortly before the unscheduled meeting of the Supervisory Board. As a reason he cited growing resistance from the government and society, which prevented successful work. At the meeting of the supervisory board, however, the abolition of the farewell bonuses for managerial staff should also be resolved, the payment of which Mažeika voluntarily waived after a few days. At the meeting of the supervisory board, the chairman of the supervisory board, Julius Niedvaras, also announced his resignation and thus also assumed responsibility for the controversial bonus scheme. The new chairman of the supervisory board was on April 3, 2009 the chairman of the state price commission , Virgilijus Poderys , the new head of the company on April 9, 2009 the previous head of RST , the physicist Rimantas Vaitkus . Vaitkus knows the incumbent Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius from more than 10 years of cooperation at Vilnius University and is therefore considered his confidante.

On July 21, 2009, Parliament decided with the new liberal-conservative government majority to amend the Atomic Energy Act. It was now envisaged that the state should hold at least two thirds of the shares, that Leo LT could also be dissolved again and that the company is no longer responsible for the construction of power lines to Poland or Sweden (will again become government responsibility). In addition, the review of the valuation of the shares contributed by Lietuvos energija and RST was ordered. If they were undervalued, the second shareholder, NDX Energija, would have to pay the state off within three months. The newly elected President of the country, Dalia Grybauskaitė , also spoke out clearly in favor of the dismantling of Leo LT, which she branded as the creation of a monopoly, when the law changes were signed on July 30th. She also doubted the need to build a new nuclear power plant in Lithuania.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Formation of Leo LT, news on Reuters, December 20, 2007 (Eng.)
  2. ↑ Collection of signatures fails due to quorum, message on delfi.lt, May 6, 2008 (lit.)
  3. ↑ Parliament passes Atomic Energy Act, Reuters news, June 28, 2007
  4. ↑ Parliament approves amendment to the Atomic Energy Act establishing Leo LT, Reuters news, February 1, 2008
  5. ↑ controversial parliamentary resolution on the establishment of Leo LT, message on delfi.lt, February 1, 2008 (lit.)
  6. ^ Leo LT founded, message on delfi.lt, April 29, 2008 (lit.)
  7. ^ Foundation of Leo LT completed, message on delfi.lt, May 27, 2008 (lit.)
  8. ↑ Seimas wants the constitutional court to review the Atomic Energy Act, message on delfi.lt, September 22, 2008 (lit.)
  9. ↑ Change of leadership at Leo LT, message on delfi.lt, October 24, 2008 (lit.)
  10. ^ Resignation of General Director Gintautas Mažeika, message on delfi.lt, March 23, 2009 (lit.)
  11. ↑ resignation of Chairman Julius Niedvaras, message (lit.) on delfi.lt, 26. March 2009
  12. ↑ Election of Virgilijus Poderys as the new Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Leo.LT, message on delfi.lt, April 3, 2009 (lit.)
  13. ↑ Appointment of Rimantas Vaitkus as the new CEO of Leo.LT, message on delfi.lt, April 9, 2009 (lit.)
  14. ↑ Lithuanian Parliament decides to amend the Atomic Energy Act, message on delfi.lt, July 21, 2009 (lit.)
  15. ^ Lithuanian President signs amendments to the Atomic Energy Act, message on delfi.lt, July 30, 2009 (lit.)