“I’d like to say that we are talking about a substantial reduction in prices. Talks on cooperation scenarios will continue and both parties want to complete them in the near time,” Miller told reporters after a meeting with Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius in Vilnius on Friday.
He would not specify how much the prices would be reduced and pointed out that agreements should be favorable both for Lithuania and Gazprom.
Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius said after the meeting that he did not want to disclose any details about promises by Gazprom to lower the prices.
“I cannot disclose any details now, we have not made any specific decisions,” he said.
Further negotiations would deal with investments, transit to Kaliningrad, and commercial issues, Miller said.
“The Lithuanian government and Gazprom have a scenario of a potential package deal on all cooperation matters. We are working in accordance with that scenario and have made a big advance today,” he added.
Butkevičius stated that experts would continue discussions and talks after Gazprom submitted its proposals in writing.
“We hope to get their written proposals in the near time and, once we have those written proposals, experts will continue discussions and talks,” he told reporters.
President: Gazprom's promises come too late
Lithuania’s President Dalia Grybauskaitė believes that promises by Gazprom to reduce the price of natural gas for Lithuania have come too late, because the price will decline once Lithuania wins its case in Stockholm arbitration.
“I think Gazprom had to reduce the price for us long time ago and the previous government filed a 5-billion-litas suit (EUR 1.45b) with the international arbitration court for good reason. Gazprom knows perfectly well that it will lose this case since it has already lost a couple of such cases in Europe. Therefore, it rushed here as if to offer lower prices,” she said in an interview to the Lithuanian Radio.
“We will get cheaper gas at any rate since we are building a liquefied natural gas terminal, which will be put in operation in a year’s time, since we will win the case in arbitration, since the European Commission is getting ready to impose an anti-trust fine against Gazprom in October. Therefore, I really think that Gazprom had to do that much, much earlier,” Grybauskaitė added.
