Otherwise, the price of gas will not decline before the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, he adds.
“If Gazprom’s executive took, if you will, a gentleman-like approach towards the maintenance of good economic relations with the neighboring countries, the price of gas applied to Lithuania could be brought in line with the prices applying to Estonia and Latvia, even in the near future,” he told the public radio by phone from Brussels on Thursday.
If the parties failed to reach a compromise, the price of gas could only go down at the end of 2014 with the completion of the LNG terminal in Klaipėda, he said.
“If a compromise is not reached during negotiations, I believe we may have to wait until the end of 2014 when we will have a possibility to obtain gas from other sources as well,” Butkevičius added.
He claimed that the authorities had not held any negotiations with Gazprom’s representatives so far and Lithuania would implement all energy projects planned.
“No task group in charge of negotiations has met with Gazprom’s representatives. Energy Minister did meet with them to discuss working issues. And we, and me personally, guaranteed ... that there were no such ideas in our government, there would be no changes and modifications. Since we are the first Baltic country which will implement the third energy package, complete the liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at the end of 2014,” Butkevičius said.
The representatives of the government confirmed on Wednesday that officials from the European Commission, Gazprom, and the Lithuanian government met in Vilnius last week. However, they would not provide any specific details about the meeting.
The media has reported citing unnamed Lithuanian officials that Gazprom seeks new negotiations on "a whole package of relations" and in exchange for discounts on gas prices, wants Lithuania to scrap its gas sector reform, sign a long-term supply contract, and withdraw its 1.5-billion-euro claim for damages filed with the Stockholm arbitration court.
