Baltic States – CIS, Belarus, Energy, Lithuania

Algirdas Butkevicius

Though the preparatory work takes place in the territory of the future NPP, the prime minister said that it was merely an imitation of the construction, reported LETA/ELTA.

"Some earthworks are taking place there. Until Belarus has the permission and approval from its neighbouring countries and Espoo Convention Implementation Committee, the construction of this object should not begin," said Butkevicius in the interview with the national radio.

According to the head of the Cabinet, the issue of security raises serious doubts. He also admitted that Lithuania had not received yet the information concerning the project's environmental impact assessment.

As reported, Espoo Convention Implementation Committee had issued its findings on April 15 and stated that Belarus had violated the Convention, had not submitted nuclear power plant project's environmental impact assessment information to Lithuania. The Committee also determined that Lithuania's questions regarding construction site choice, seismicresearch, impact on Lithuanian citizens, underground waters and Neris River were justified.

Espoo Convention Implementation Committee urged Belarus to provide answers to all Lithuania's questions, take into consideration Lithuanian experts' observations and implement all other Espoo Convention obligations.