Energy, EU – Baltic States, Gas, Latvia, Lithuania

International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Monday, 25.11.2024, 01:20

PM candidate in Latvia: Lithuania is obstacle to joint energy projects in Baltics

BC, Riga, 04.09.2014.Print version
Lithuania is an obstacle to almost the entire range of joint energy projects of the Baltic States, former Economy Ministry State Secretary, now For Latvia's Development's premier candidate, Juris Puce, says in an interview with the newspaper Neatkariga, cites LETA/ELTA.

As an example, Puce mentioned the Polish-Baltic gas pipeline. "The European Union has stipulated guidelines for distribution of funds, and the scope of involvement for each member of the project. The reason why such important projects are stalled is because the Lithuanian government does not want to pay proper attention to the EU and Baltic States' gas pipeline project."

 

According to Puce, the Lithuanian government is fully focused on the construction of its own Klaipeda liquefied natural gas terminal. "The construction of Klaipeda terminal and its infrastructure will be funded by Lithuania without any additional EU funding, therefore, the Polish-Baltic connection was not a priority for Lithuania."

 

Only now, with Russia's aggression in Ukraine, Lithuania has decided to approve this project, Puce said. "Poland already finalised its part of the project in the middle of 2013. Lithuania, on the other hand, is still delaying, although the Polish part was much bulkier. About three-fourths of the entire pipeline will be located in Poland. The construction process will require about two years. Before that, we must approve the project and finish evaluating the potential influence on the environment. Poland has already finished its part, while Lithuania has not. 2018 could be the optimum date when the first round of the Lithuanian-Polish gas pipeline project could be finalised. If Lithuania discontinues its stalling, the potential date could be 2019."






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