The President of Lithuania called on to fight the monopoly of “Gazprom” in Europe
VILNIUS, may 24 — RIA Novosti. The fight against monopoly of Gazprom on the European gas market requires real solutions, said the President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite during the meeting with the Vice-President of the European Commission on energosoiuz maroš Šefčovič.
The Baltic States and Poland traditionally declare some kind of dependence on Russian gas, Lithuania even refused a long-term contract with Gazprom. However, buying gas at the auction of the group, in the spring of 2016 Lithuanian company appealed to “Gazprom” with the offer to return to the medium-term contracts, said Deputy Chairman of “Gazprom” Alexander Medvedev.
Gas
“In the fight against non-transparent monopoly of Gazprom on the European gas market requires not symbolic steps, and real solutions. The EU should not be based on geopolitical explanation for the difference in price of gas, and liabilities of “Gazprom” to the purchaser should include mechanisms for compensation for caused non-transparent trade damage”, — quotes Grybauskaite in the release of the presidential Palace.
In the framework of the antitrust case the EC in 2015 put forward to the Russian holding allegations of violations in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia. On 13 March the European Commission published the text of the final proposal of “Gazprom” on settlement of the case. The EC previously approved and is now testing the market reaction. If market comments will show that the proposals were not suitable, they will not be accepted.
Grybauskaite at the meeting also noted that the project “Northern stream — 2” — “this is another attempt to split the unity of the EU and tighten the new loop around Russian gas to Europe. The obligation of the EU to ensure that all of Europe’s energy projects fully meet the EU law, the objectives of the Energy Union and the principles of fair competition.”
The Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Lithuania’s President earlier signed a letter to the Chairman of the EC, speaking against the implementation of the “Nord stream-2”. In their view, the project carries the risks of geopolitical instability. The German government, which comes the gas pipeline project, clearly States that “Nord stream-2” is an economic project.
Nuclear power plant
Great attention at the meeting with Sefcovic was placed under construction near the borders with Lithuania Belarusian nuclear power plant. “A required common position of all member countries of the EU that produced the electricity did not get to European consumers, and the Belarusian nuclear power plant do not create additional barriers for synchronization systems of the Baltic countries with the system of continental Europe”, — said the President.
Earlier the newspaper Verslo zinios published an interview with maroš Šefčovič, in which he stated that the EU cannot ban the import of electricity produced at nuclear power plants from countries outside the EU, all restrictions on the import of energy should be evaluated on the basis of WTO rules.
Before the Minister of energy of Lithuania the situation is Vaicunas stated that Belarusian NPP under construction and stopped the project of Kaliningrad nuclear power plant allegedly pose a threat to Lithuania violated the Convention on nuclear energy, which requires to discuss with neighbouring countries site selection for construction. In April, the Lithuanian Parliament passed in an emergency procedure the law on restriction of import of electricity allegedly unsafe nuclear power plants, including in the future — currently under construction Belarusian NPP.
The Belarusian nuclear power plant is being built with the participation of the Russian Federation near Ostrowiec 50 kilometers from Vilnius. Lithuania makes a complaint to the NPP almost since the adoption of the Minsk decisions on its construction, stating that the station is supposedly not safe enough. Vilnius is initiating a ban on the purchase of electricity from the NPP in the EU. Belarus insists that the plant will meet the highest safety standards. The first unit of the Belarusian NPP is planned to be operational in 2019.