Veolia claims that its investments in the heating sector of the Republic of Lithuania have been infringed. As a result, Veolia claims more than €100 million in damages. Shearman&Sterling together with TGS Baltic are representing the Republic of Lithuania in this matter.
The role of TGS Baltic is to cover the entire regulatory field of Lithuania (including historical perspective) and to demonstrate that the activities of the investors were flawed in many ways – hence Veolia has no viable claim whatsoever against the Republic of Lithuania.
In parallel, Veolia and other claimants brought a claim against the Vilnius City Municipality and AB Vilniaus šilumos tinklai in accordance with the Arbitration Rules of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce. The case started in a very unconventional way of dispute resolution.
The parties were disputing the appointment of an expert, which was supposed to inspect the technical state of the facilities before their transfer to AB Vilniaus šilumos tinklai. Following nearly 12 months of dead-lock on this matter, AB Vilniaus šilumos tinklai, taking the advice of the firm, initiated emergency arbitration under the Arbitration Rules of the SCC.
The firm successfully represented the interests of AB Vilniaus šilumos tinklai during the said procedures and the expert was appointed in a matter of weeks. The case now continues further under the Arbitration Rules of the SCC.
