"The Energy Ministry is in charge of this issue, and both local and international experts have been brought in and they are making the calculations. However, since I looked deeper into this issue, Lithuania doesn't really need the reactor that Hitachi proposed to us," she told the radio station Žinių Radijas on Thursday when asked about her opinion as to what energy generation sources Lithuania should choose.
The Economy Ministry was the shareholder of Visagino Atominė Elektrinė (Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant, or VAE) until February.
Vėsaitė, a Social Democrat, said that Lithuania would not be able to ensure the reserves needed for a large reactor.
"Practically, it would be very difficult to ensure the reserve, too, because we don't have a second interconnection with Poland. The first one hasn't been completed yet. I'd say that we have to do our homework first and then pronounce our final decision," she said.
Personal opinion
Birutė Vėsaitė is not familiar with research material on Lithuania's energy strategy, Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius said on Thursday commenting on the Social Democratic economy minister's statement that the country does not need a nuclear reactor proposed by Japan's Hitachi.
Commenting on Vėsaitė's statement that Lithuania could have delayed the implementation of the EU's Third Energy Package, Butkevičius said that the government is sticking to its position regarding the legislative package.
"As far as I know, she is not familiar with all that material (a renewed energy strategy that is being drafted by a working group). Thus, I believe this is her personal statement," he told reporters when asked to comment on Vėsaitė's statement made earlier in the day.
Butkevičius said that a study carried out by the Lithuanian Energy Institute and a new energy strategy will be presented to the government next week and later submitted it to the Seimas (parliament).
"There will be a public financial evaluation of how much the construction of a new power plant and preparatory work could cost, if we opt for such construction," the prime minister said.
"There will also be a parallel project outlining our vision of Lithuania's energy future if we don't build a nuclear power plant," he added.
Commenting on Vesaite's statement on the Third Energy Package, Butkevičius said that the government is not changing its stance on this issue.
"Let me say this clearly once again: when I was in Brussels, I told Mr. (Jose Manuel) Barroso and Mr. (Martin) Schulz and Commissioner (Guenther) Oettinger that this government was not changing its opinion regarding the implementation of the Third Energy Package," the prime minister said when asked what he thought about the economy minister's statement.
