Baltic prime ministers agree on extra two weeks for LNG market deal
The prime ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania agreed on Friday to an additional two weeks for hte final agreement on the liquefied natural gas (LNG) market, an adivser to Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis said.
"There is agreement in principle to move forward, and there is a clear deadline of two weeks, which are needed for certain adjustments of our joint position and a joint address to the European Commission," Deividas Matulionis, foreign policy adviser to Skvernelis, told BNS, adding that the Latvian government would also discuss the issue.
"This is the intermediary agreement in principle," he explained. "This is not the end; I would say there is progress ahead."
Matulionis noted that the principle agreement of the regional LNG package, including the already operational LNG terminal in Klaipėda, Lithuania, the projected terminal in Paldiski, Estonia, and the Inčukalns Underground Gas Storage Facility in Latvia remained unchanged. He did not, however, specify what changes would be made within two weeks.
"There is consensus on all of the principles, however, this will take a bit more time because of all of the nuances, as I've said – two weeks, this will be the final deadline," said the adviser.
The three Baltic prime ministers had met at the Incukalns gas storage facility in Latvia to discuss the LNG market on Friday.
Skvernelis earlier voiced an expectation that the decision would be reached during the Friday's meeting. Lithuania's officials say that a joint position of the three Baltic nations would boos their chances of securing European Union (EU) support to the Lithuanian LNG terminal in Klaipeda and allow lowering gas prices for consumers by 5-7 percent.
Editor: Aili Vahtla
Source: LNG