Ar, įgyvendinant energetinio saugumo strategiją Lietuvoje, sudaromos sąlygos užsienio investicijų šioje srityje apsaugai?
Abromavičiūtė, Renata |
Pastaraisiais dešimtmečiais Europoje energijos suvartojimas sparčiai didėjo. Tai reiškia, kad didėjo priklausomybė nuo Bendrijai nepriklausančių energijos tiekėjų, o kartu ir poreikis spręsti energetinės nepriklausomybės klausimus. Todėl Europos Taryba palaipsniui siekė sukurti bendrą energetikos rinką, kuri padėtų išlaikyti įmanomai žemą kainų lygį, kontroliuoti monopolijų atsiradimą ir saugiau apsirūpinti energija. Šiam tikslui pasiekti sukurtas Europos Sąjungos Trečiasis energetikos paketas – direktyvų ir reglamentų rinkinys, reglamentuojantis elektros energijos ir dujų tiekimą, šių tinklų valdymą ir naudojimą. Lietuva beveik 90 proc. pirminės energijos importuoja iš vienintelio tiekėjo. Tai reiškia, kad mūsų šalyje nėra energetikos rinkos – ją reikia sukurti. Kadangi šalies finansinių išteklių šiai rinkai sukurti neužtenka, reikia sudaryti sąlygas pritraukti užsienio investicijoms. Esant pasirašytoms ir galiojančioms investicijų skatinimo ir apsaugos sutartims, yra prisiimami tarptautiniai įsipareigojimai – suteikti užsienio investuotojams tam tikras garantijas ir laikytis minimalių elgesio su užsienio investuotojais standartų. Šių sutarčių vykdymui labai svarbus šalių bendradarbiavimas, solidarumas, abipusiškumas ir sąžiningas pareigų vykdymas, todėl Lietuva, įgyvendindama energetinio saugumo strategiją, turi iš naujo susiderėti su sutarties šalimis dėl atitinkamų sutarties sąlygų ir imtis visų priemonių, kad užsienio investicijos į elektros energijos ir dujų rinką būtų apsaugotos. Šiuo darbu buvo siekiama išsiaiškinti, ar Lietuva, įgyvendindama energetinio saugumo strategiją, sudaro sąlygas apsaugoti teisėtus užsienio investuotojų interesus šioje srityje. Išanalizavus ES ir Lietuvos teisės aktus, galima konstatuoti, kad teoriškai, Lietuvai įgyvendinant energetinio saugumo strategiją, sudaromos sąlygos užsienio investicijų apsaugai, tačiau, įvertinus užsienio šalių teismų praktiką, užsienio investuotojų teisėti lūkesčiai yra pažeidžiami.
In recent decades the numbers of energy consumption have quickly increased. This represents both the higher dependence on the energy suppliers that do not belong to the Community, and the higher need to deal with the problem of energy independence. The Council of Europe has been gradually creating a general energy market that would allow fixing the most feasible cost rate, to control the establishment of monopolies and to source the energy in the safest way. For this purpose the European Union's Third Energy Package has been proposed. The European Union's Third Energy Package – is a follow up of the former European Union energy policy. The directives and regulations of the Package determine the order of gas and electricity supply and the control and operation rules of these systems. The most important aspect of the third package is the ownership unbundling – legal regulation of energy market. Lithuania as a member of the European Union has also implemented a new reform of energy security. The European Union's Third Energy Package means the beginning of implementation of energy market in Lithuania, since recently almost 90 percent of primary energy it imports from the only supplier. In order to realize this strategy, Lithuania has chosen the hardest way – the total ownership unbundling. This means that the system of gas transmission must be totally separated – its operation does not have the operative impact on the gas supplier. For this reason the problem of security of legal rights of AB „Lietuvos dujos“ investors has occurred in gas transmission, distribution and supply work. This work researches whether Lithuania implementing the strategy for energy security allows the security of legal concerns of foreign investors in this sphere. Having analysed the legal acts of the European Union and Lithuania, one can state that on the one hand while implementing the strategy for energy security in Lithuania the theoretical security of foreign investment is allowed, but on the other hand, in accordance with the judicial practice in other countries, the legal concerns of foreign investors are violated. At the moment the principal law regulating the investment terms in Lithuania is the Investment Law of the Republic of Lithuania, which ratifies the provision that all subject of investing activity have equal rights to implement their actions. According to this, we can state that our country is open for investments from different foreign countries and for all investors, providing them with equal opportunities. The practice of foreign countries evidences that if foreign investors are provided with wrong conditions, restrictions of their rights to control the company, and other problems making difficult to implement their actions and to use their capital, the legal status of the investors will be derogated. For this reason, in the point of view of foreign investors the objective of Lithuania to liberalize the energy sector is considered as derogation from their rights. With reference to international law, there is no one universal method how to determine the damage – the principle, which is usually applied, states that the standard of compensation for the damage means the one of the total compensation. The legal acts of our country determine that the extent of damage must satisfy the value of the market. However, while implementing the energy independence strategy, Lithuania has a strict judgement on the damage compensating matter and does not discuss about it with the foreign investors. It has been decided that the ownership unbundling of AB „Lietuvos dujos“ is an implementation of requirements determined by legal acts of the European Parliament and Council. What is more, foreign investor‘s privilege to go to the court guarantees the right and neutral decision making process. This privilege is actualized in order to allow the foreign investor to bring the issue to the court or for an extrajudicial dispute solving institution. Having analysed the courts‘ practice, one can state that usually the problem occurs when the foreign investors disagree with the Government for the laws and interests. Unfortunately, Lithuania does not have enough experience how to solve the disputes with the foreign investors, and the legal practice is not clear, while judicial disputes have taken a very long time. Consequently, it is usually referred to the former cases and the verdicts, because it would be very difficult to analyse and to value the aspects that are very important for the case, and that have already been discussed in previous cases. The stability is the most important matter for the foreign investors. The practice of different countries shows that the foreign investors usually choose those countries where the market stability is dominated, the satisfactory guarantees are ensured and the minimum standards of dealing are applied. The implementation of the European Union's Third Energy Package in Lithuania revealed that the country needs a consistent foreign investment policy, and that the alternation of the law, legal acts and the former practice is taking place. In addition, Lithuania has to make a new bargain with the foreign investors due to the changed conditions and to take certain actions in order to secure the foreign investments in electricity and gas market. The foreign courts declare that there is no such mechanism, which could unbundle the private property by force, in their practice. While implementing the rules of the European Union's Third Energy Package Lithuania encounters the problem how to unbundle the transmission system. Since any attempt of the country to derogate from foreign investors‘ rights for the open control of their capital and its management, also any attempt to typically compensate for the unbundling of the foreign investors‘ capital, is defined as an expropriation. What is more, Lithuanian Government declares that the investors of AB Lithuanian gas have a certain term for the decision how the function of gas transmission will be transferred to an independent operator; consequently, it can be assumed as the national constraint, leaving the freedom of decision making process for the foreign investors. The principle of nationality‘s prohibition discrimination – guarantees that the foreign investors themselves and their investments will be treated in the same manner as the native investors and investments. In Lithuania this principle is prosecuted as per the laws of Lithuanian Republic and other legal acts, ensuring that the interest and the activity will be under the same circumstances as well as the similar perks will be applied. In consequence, while realizing the strategy for energy security both the foreign and local investors must be treated equally, trying not to create more beneficial or discriminative conditions for each side.