“The management of JSC Latvijas kuģniecība (Latvian Shipping Company –LASCO) is not surprised by the timing of the attempts made by the Greek-registered legal entity to damage the reputation of the company. The statement made by Atholl Greece Ltd, a company of unclear origin, needs to be seen in a close context with the successful efforts of LASCO  management to uncover the ship charter fraud schemes, which, over a number of years, allowed a group of persons to defraud the company of some 30 – 40 USD million. The investigation confidentiality unfortunately does not allow us to offer a more detailed explanation into the international efforts to uncover the ship charter fraud schemes, but it needs to be stressed that the day of announcement, namely yesterday, July the 12th, is a date of concern for those suspected in he ship charter fraud. We hope to inform more about the investigation results over the coming months.

At the same time, LASCO management invites all legitimate investors, which have deeper interest about company operations, to contact the company in order to receive first-hand information about the issues of interest in accordance with the procedure set out in Latvian laws. It is unfortunate that Atholl Greece Ltd has not deemed it necessary to contact the company and discuss the matters of interest in a constructive manner but has rather elected to make absolutely false assumptions and allegations. These allegations may be intended to reduce the value of LASCO, as well as may attempt to mislead the LASCO cooperation partners, investors and the public at large.

Furthermore, in order to inquire about the standing of Atholl Greece Ltd. in the international shipping business, we recommend to visit the website of the company at http://www.athollgreece.com.”