JSC Latvijas kuģniecība (Latvian Shipping Company - LASCO) hereby informs that
today, 2 August 2007, it has submitted official statements to the Financial and
Capital Market Commission of the Republic of Latvia and Riga Stock Exchange
containing the explanation by LASCO auditors Ernst&Young Baltic in relation to
the classification of the Company's cash placed on deposits in the financial
statements prepared in accordance with the International Financial Reporting
Standards. As it follows from the auditors' explanation, JSC Latvijas
kuģniecība “deposits were initially booked in the Cash and Cash Equivalents
item, which is a generally accepted accounting practice in Latvia”. The
auditors stress the fact that the reclassification of the deposits in question
has not impacted JSC Latvijas kuģniecība liquidity ratios.
JSC Latvijas kuģniecība requested the auditors to issue an ofiicial
explanation, considering several recent publications in mass media that
(disregarding the international auditors' opinion and basic accounting
porinciples) make an attempt to the benefit of a group of the Company's
shareholders to create an atmosphere of rumours and suspiciousness around one
simple case of applying financial reporting standards.
JSC Latvijas kuģniecība stresses the fact the legal entities mentioned in the
publications as JSC Latvijas kuģniecība minority shareholders without further
identifying their executives are two off-shore companies, mentioned in the
documents submitted by LASCO to the Economic Police Department in relation to
the criminal case on unprofitable ship chartering agreements, conluded at
reduced prices with companies related to the former LASCO officials and
resulting in USD 36 million losses caused to the Company as well as LASCO
financial resources miassapropriation. Therefore, JSC Latvijas kuģniecība has
every reason to believe that making public and absurd speculations about one
single line of LASCO financial statements disregarding the fact that it is
audited by the highly reputable international auditor company, is, as a matter
of fact, a willful action aimed to damage JSC Latvijas kuģniecība reputation
with an attempt to smooth the reflecting of the above-mentioned (as if
concerned) minority shareholders' participation in the deals possibly resultig
in the missapropriation of LASCO financial resources.
For detailed information:
Marita Ozolina-Tumanovska
Head of Public Relations Department
Phone: (+ 371) 67020120, 29287169
E-mail: marita.ozolina@lscgroup.lv
