VILNIUS - The sole oil refinery in the Baltic states, Lithuania's Mazeikiu Nafta, which is controlled by embattled Russian oil giant Yukos, announced Friday a nearly two-fold rise in net profit for the first quarter of 2005 compared with the same period last year.
Net profit in the first quarter reached 195.4 million litas (56.6 million euros, 73.2 million dollars) compared with 102.2 million litas last year.
The company processed 2.268 million tons of oil, up by 6.3 percent compared with January-March 2004.
The refinery plans to process 9.5 million tons of oil in 2005. Some 8.66 million tons of crude were refined at Mazeikiu Nafta last year.
The future of the company, however, is uncertain, as Mazeikiu's main shareholder, Yukos, is locked in a battle with the Russian government, which is slowly dismantling the oil giant to pay a tax bill that stands at more than 10 times the company's market capitalization.
Yukos currently holds a 53.7-percent stake and management rights in Mazeikiu Nafta.
Twice this year, supplies of crude were cut off from the refinery and it was forced to go onto the so-called "hot regime", when all equipment at the refinery continues to operate, but without oil. The hot regime cost Mazeikiu one million litas (289,620 euros) per day.
Up until April, more than 60 percent of oil to Mazeikiu Nafta was supplied by Yukos, with the rest coming from other Russian companies.
But the Russian energy ministry revoked Yukos' right to ship oil to the Lithuanian refinery in the second quarter of 2005.
The Lithuanian government has a 40.6 percent stake in Mazeikiu and has begun talks with Yukos to regain control of the company, which includes a refinery, the Butinge offshore terminal and a pipeline.
04/29/2005 11:06 GMT