Baltic States – CIS, Belarus, Energy, Legislation, Lithuania, Nuclear power plant

Linas Linkevicius and Vladimir Makey. Photo: urm.lt

Lithuania would also like to receive more information from Belarus on the construction of the nuclear power plant close to Lithuania's border.

"We have invited Belarusian experts to come to Vilnius in December to specifically speak about the Implementation Committee (Espoo Convention) requirements related to the power plant quality issues," Linkevicius told BNS on Thursday after his meeting with Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makey.

"It would be a certain step in that direction for us to together realize the importance of this issue and the existing problems and resolve them," the minister said.

According to Linkevicius, Lithuania should receive information about key issues related to the construction of the plant in the future.

"The problem is that our institutions have miscommunicated and we have failed to receive answers to key questions which are directly related to the quality of the construction. So these things should move from the standstill," Linkevicius said.

The Implementation Committee (Espoo Convention) has said the Astravets nuclear power plant does not meet the convention requirements. Lithuania has criticized Belarus numerous times fir its failure to ensure safety of the project that is only 50 km from Vilnius.