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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Tuesday, 19.03.2024, 05:16

Lithuanian parliament green-lights purchase of Klaipeda LNG terminal's FSRU

BC, Vilnius, 18.12.2018.Print version
The Lithuanian parliament on Tuesday gave the green light for purchasing the Klaipeda liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal's floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) by late 2024, when the lease contract with Norway's Hoegh LNG ends,

The Seimas passed the respective amendments to the Law on LNG Terminal in a vote of 99 to one with 17 abstentions. 


Virgilijus Poderys, chairman of the parliament's Energy Commission, said it was the right decision in that it would help lower the terminal's operating costs by a third. 


"When we own the terminal, we are free to do whatever we want with it -- to buy, sell or sell and then buy another one. That would give us more freedom and a wider choice of options," he said. 


Following the approval from the Seimas, the terminal's operating costs are to be reduced to 43 million euros per year, from the current 66 mln euros. The terminal's costs for the fertilizer manufacturer Achema, Lithuania's single largest gas consumer, would go down by around 6 mln euros annually. 


The parliament gave the go-ahead for cutting the running costs starting in 2019 and to optimally spread out the costs until the end of 2044.  


With Lithuania set to purchase the FSRU by the end of 2024, Klaipedos Nafta, the terminal's operator, plans to borrow up to 308 mln euros in loans backed by state guarantees.






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