Baltic States – CIS, Energy, Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Gas

Aas said, commenting upon the natural gas law amendments bill that the government will discuss on Thursday that liberalising the gas market enables to start using liquefied natural gas (LNG) which will reduce the dependence of consumers on one monopoly provider, reports LETA.

"Today Eesti Gaas controls in essence the whole Estonian gas market. It is clear that till one monopoly controls the whole market, including transmission networks, no other company wishes to invest in Estonia and take excess risks," said Aas saying that LNG is becoming a real alternative to Russian gas in the Baltic Sea region.

Aas said it is reasonable also to create conditions for wider use of bio-gas. Variety of suppliers and supply channels create competition and prerequisites for a working gas market.

"Separating transmission grids is an important stage for development of gas market. Building an LNG terminal, the Baltic Connector gas pipeline between Estonia and Finland and improving connections with Latvia are the next steps that have to be actively worked upon," said Aas.