Baltic States – CIS, Energy, Gas, Latvia, Lithuania
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Wednesday, 09.10.2024, 01:49
When will cheaper gas come to Lithuania?
These were the topics covered in a round table discussion by the Zalgiris National Resistance Movement with Independence Act signatory Rolandas Paulauskas, member of the first government, former energy minister Leonas Asmontas, MP, former economy minister Kestutis Dauksys and professor at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, energy economist Vidmantas Jankauskas, reports LETA/ELTA, referring to Respublika.
"First of all, those who talked about cheaper gas should be punished in some way. Then all those people who see that they have been deceived will be satisfied. The list of those people who promised cheaper gas should be made public for us to be able to point at them and say that those are "the smartest" people in the country," said Asmontas. "Power from our nuclear power plant used to cost 8 cents, while now we buy it for twice the price – 16 cents – because we closed the nuclear plant. Gas, although it was expensive, we used to buy from Russia just like Latvians and Estonians, all in the same way, until somebody started talking about the Third Energy Package, separating distribution from production and executing some kind of terrible reform. When the Conservative government started doing it, we began paying 22 percent more for gas than Latvians. Now we pay the same price for gas as Latvians. Latvians do not have a terminal, we have one, but the price is still the same. The idea about a terminal is good in general, it is always good to have additional gate. Every house has two doors to come in and out. The terminal indeed could have been a certain "exit" if something happens to the Russian gas () the vessel could have been smaller, older with new equipment for some LTL 500 million (EUR 145 million). And it would be ours. But now we will spend around LTL 2 billion (EUR 579 million) to rent for 10 years. Then we will probably buy it for more than LTL 500 million (EUR 145 million). These things, to my mind, are one of the biggest political failures in Lithuania's energy sector".