LITHUANIA-RUSSIA COMMISSION DISCUSS TARIFFS, DEBT,

C O N F I D E N T I A L VILNIUS 000174

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/NB AND EUR/RUS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/22/2014
TAGS: PREL PGOV LH
SUBJECT: LITHUANIA-RUSSIA COMMISSION DISCUSS TARIFFS, DEBT,
AND BORDER DEMARCATION


Classified By: POL/ECON OFFICER TREVOR BOYD
FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D)

1.(U) Summary. Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis and Russian
Minister of Transportation Igor Levitin, Co-Chairmen of the
Lithuanian-Russian Intergovernmental Commission, discussed
railway tariffs, debt, border demarcation, and Russia's
return of cultural and archival material on February 19. The
two agreed to cooperate on a joint project to improve the
Sovetsk-Panemune border checkpoint and to hold a meeting of
the full commission in Vilnius later this fall. The meeting
is a reminder that, despite ongoing tensions in that
bilateral relationship, the two governments conduct a
constructive dialogue on many issues. End Summary.


2. (U) Lithuanian FM Valionis and Russian MinTrans Levitin
met in Trakai, the ancient capital of Lithuania, February 19,
in a session of the Lithuanian-Russian Intergovernmental
Commission, a body the GOL and GOR established in 1995 to
advance bilateral relations. Media reports of the meeting
highlighted Valionis's call for the return of cultural and
archival material to Lithuania and the ministers' discussion
about concluding a GOL-GOR agreement on pensions.


3. (C) Arunas Vinciunas, head of MFA's Russia Division, on
February 22 gave us a read-out of the meeting. Vinciunas
highlighted discussions on three topics: railway tariffs,
debt, and border demarcation:

-- Railway Tariffs: Levitin asked the GOL to suspend its
announced tariff increases on third-country cargo (mostly
Central Asian) to the Lithuanian seaport of Klaipeda. The
parties agreed to begin working level meetings on the issue
in two-three weeks.

-- Debt: Valionis asked Levitin to help expedite the return
of both Soviet and Russian debts to Lithuanian citizens and
enterprises. The GOR owes more than $15 million to
Lithuanian construction companies for joint projects in the
early 1990s. Valionis asked for GOR assistance in helping
more than 2,200 Lithuanian citizens recuperate more than $7
million in personal deposits made to the Soviet bank
Vneshekonombank.

-- Border Demarcation: Valionis and Levitin agreed to
undertake a joint project to improve the border demarcation,
signposts, and bridge at the Lithuanian-Russian checkpoint at
Sovietsk Panemune.


4. (C) Comment. Despite the acrimony and geopolitical
tension that dominate media coverage of Lithuanian-Russian
relations, Lithuanian and Russian leaders plug away at the
details of their complex (often harmonious) bilateral
relations. The re-energized Commission, dormant in the
absence of a Russian co-chairman since the March 2004 GOR
reshuffle, marks a step forward in a more constructive,
positive bilateral relationship.
Mull