Billions at stake: Lithuania to spend nearly 700,000 euros more on legal disputes with Belaruskalij

The government is expected to make the corresponding decision on Wednesday. Funds from borrowed state resources are planned to be allocated to cover expenses for lawyers' services provided in April-June of this year. According to the draft government resolution, these funds were not planned during the preparation of the budget for 2026-2028, as the need for them was not known. At the request of the Ministry of Transport and Communications, 318,200 euros is proposed to be allocated to the law firm Ellex Valiūnas ir partneriai and its partner - the British Allen Overy Shearman Sterling - for representing Lithuania's interests in the dispute with Hasenberg. Another 373,000 euros is proposed to be allocated to the same Lithuanian firm and its partner - the renowned London firm Covington & Burling - for representation in the dispute with Belaruskalij. Since 2023, 4.93 million euros have already been allocated for the payment of lawyers' services in these arbitration cases. As previously reported by BNS, by filing a lawsuit against Lithuania in the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), Belaruskalij is demanding compensation of 12.09 billion US dollars. Belaruskalij initiated the investment arbitration process after the Lithuanian government invalidated the cargo transportation contract between Lithuanian Railways (Lietuvos gelezinkeliai) and Belaruskalij in January 2022. The transit of potash fertilizers through Lithuania was halted on February 1 of the same year. The company Hasenberg, which is an indirect shareholder of Biriu kroviniu terminalas (Bulk Cargo Terminal, BKT), which handled the transshipment of Belaruskalij's fertilizers at the Klaipeda port, has also initiated international arbitration against Lithuania. Arbitrators have already been appointed in the PCA. According to the portal lrt.lt, citing its sources, last January the company estimated the alleged damage at 15 billion euros. It is claimed that Hasenberg will attempt to prove that Lithuania violated the 1992 treaty with the Swiss Confederation on the encouragement and mutual protection of investments. The transit of Belaruskalij's products from the border with Belarus to the Klaipeda port had been carried out for more than ten years and was supposed to continue until the end of 2023, but was halted on February 1, 2022. The transshipment of Belaruskalij's fertilizers at the port was carried out by the BKT terminal, 30% of which is owned by a Belarusian company. Udovitsky directly owns 5% of BKT shares and 65% indirectly through Hasenberg.