The sale of oil company Mazeikiu nafta

In 1999, Lithuania sold its natural gas company Mazeikiu nafta (MN) to the American firm Williams, which then got the company into debt. In 2002 it was therefore sold on to Russian giant Yukos. Now, following Yukos' collapse, MN is to be sold to a Polish company, PKN Orlen. Peteris Strautins speculates on Mazeikiu nafta's future. "Lithuania hopes to escape the prospect of Russian control if MN is sold to PKN, but perhaps history will repeat itself and the Poles will end up selling MN to Lukoil... With an annual turnover of 3.25 billion euros, MN is almost 15 times as big as Latvia's largest industrial company. However, the business of refining oil has its ups and downs, so having control over MN is no guarantee of a boundless fortune."

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