Claims of Vilnius about "compensation for damage from the Soviet occupation" could be costly for Lithuania. As the Russian ambassador to this Baltic republic Alexander Udaltsov stated, Moscow has the right to raise the issue of compensation of the funds invested in Lithuania and redistributed in its favor during the Soviet period to the Lithuanian side.

The corresponding topic was raised in an interview that the diplomat gave to the publication "Lithuanian Courier".

Answering the question about the presentation by the Baltic States of some financial claims to Moscow and the prospects for these cases, Udaltsov assured his Lithuanian colleagues that "none of the Russian officials will not be discussing this senseless and hopeless undertaking".

He recalled that by the time of joining the USSR in 1940. Lithuania was an agrarian country (74% of the population worked in agriculture), which occupied one of the last places in Europe in terms of living standards.

According to the Russian ambassador, by 1990, about $ 65 billion had been invested in the Lithuanian economy, and due to the supply of energy resources and raw materials from Russia to Russia at reduced prices, the total amount of investments exceeded $ 72 billion.

"Thus, it is obvious that the possible statement by the Lithuanian side about the compensation of Russia as a continuation of the Soviet Union of the damage allegedly inflicted on the republic in the years of its entry into the USSR is illegal and even absurd," Udaltsov stressed..

"Rather, Russia, as the largest republic within the framework of the former Union, which made the main contribution to the overall budget, has the right to put the counter question to the Republic of Lithuania to compensate us for the funds collected, by the way, at the expense of other union republics and redistributed in favor of Lithuania, The Russian ambassador summarized.

Let's remind, the Lithuanian Diet in 2000 г. Adopted a law "On compensation for damage from the occupation of the USSR," under which the government ordered to determine the size of the "losses", to form a delegation for negotiations and to address Moscow regarding the compensation of "damage". Deputies then assessed the "damage" of 23 billion euros.

In the fall of 2015, the Ministers of Justice of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia signed a memorandum in Riga in which they agreed "on the activities for making claims for compensation for Soviet occupational damage". Latvian accountants counted the amount of "damage" in 185 billion euros, although later it increased as much as 300 billion euros. Vilnius announced the beginning of new calculations in September 2016. Three months later, Estonian authorities seized the calculators.