"We are preparing all the required documents for the European Commission, asking for anti-dumping measures against imports of TV components from China, as it is becoming more and more difficult to withstand the unfair competition we face," Eimutis Zvybas, head of television tube manufacturer Ekranas, told

"The Tesla Ecimex company in the Czech Republic, which faces the same problem, is going to support us in our request," he added.

Lithuania and the Czech Republic were among 10 countries joining the EU on May 1 last year.

Karel Petrzelka, spokesman for Tesla Ecimex, which manufactures television tubes exclusively for export, told AFP the company planned to submit an official request to the European Commission in the very near future.

"The push by Chinese companies is very dangerous not only for us but other European manufacturers and would undoubtedly cause a real threat to production and cost many jobs," Petrzelka said.

"We have to make our fears known very soon and push for unfavourable conditions for Chinese competitors as there is not much time," he added.

The problems of Ekranas have a direct impact on another Lithuanian electronic company, Vilniaus Vingis, which produces deflection yokes for television tubes and is heavily dependent on orders from Ekranas.

Vilniaus Vingis will operate at half capacity in June and may be forced to stop operations temporarily in July as Ekranas has already announced it will halt production from July 18 to August 15.

Both Lithuanian companies have already felt the negative reaction of investors to their woes.

Shares in Vilniaus Vingis on the Vilnius stock exchange have fallen from 7.75 litas to 5.0 litas since the start of the year, while shares in Ekranas have lost almost half their value in the same period, trading at 3.80 litas in June against 7.0 litas in January.

Competition with Asian tube producers impacted heavily on the results of Ekranas last year. Net profit in 2004 shrank to 1.29 million litaseuros, 459,000 dollars) compared to 20.2 million litas in 2003. The Lithuanian company has projected a loss of 10 million litas this year.

Situated in Panevezys in north Lithuania, Ekranas holds more than 25 percent of the EU market for small-size cathode ray tubes, a component part in non-digital screen television sets.

According to Zvybas, the company is the only producer of small TV tubes in the European Union after LG Philips shut down its plant in Barcelona.

With cheap Asian imports flooding the European market, prices for television tubes have fallen by some 10 percent in the past six months.

For Ekranas, the prices paid for Asian imports only cover the cost of materials, and the Lithuanian company's tube prices are around four euros (five dollars) dearer than those of the Asian imports.

Compounding the problem is the fact that cheap television components from Asia are also being imported by Turkey, where more than one-third of cathode ray tube television sets sold in Europe are made.

"That creates a problem of dumping not only in the component market, but also in the TV set market, as Turkey has a free-trade agreement with the EU," Zvybas said.

He blamed the closures of plants making television sets in Europe on cheap imports from Asia, notably from China.

"LG Phillips closed all five of its factories in Europe in the last two years. Thomson closed one of its factories in Europe last year," Zvybas said.

Multinationals have not backed the bid by Ekranas for EU help against dumping, because, said Zvybas, they are continuing their operations in Asia.

"So we are trying to help ourselves and hope our call will be heard."

He added that, following an earlier request from Ekranas, the European Commission introduced duties on imports of television tubes from Malaysia, South Korea and India in July 2004. But imports from China were not affected.

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