Lithuania’s Parliament Speaker: President’s role will be crucial in ensuring continuity of energy projects

These energy initiatives “are not the projects of one parliamentary tenure or one government”, Degutienė said in an interview to Žinių Radijas on Wednesday.

“The Seimas took political decisions on the nuclear facility project and other energy projects these days. However, transparent and appropriate implementation [of these projects] will be a task of many future governments. I would see a big and important role for the President of the Republic of Lithuania here in ensuring the implementation of those projects in the future, responsible and transparent execution,” she said.

Approval of energy projects’ implementation by the parliament opened up possibilities to continue the projects that had already been launched, Degutienė said.

“This procedure has not been completed as yet. It’s just the beginning. We are at one of the stages, which shall be implemented; otherwise, it will practically be impossible to speak about energy independence,” she said.

The Seimas earlier this month endorsed the construction of a new nuclear power plant in Visaginas and approved integration of Lithuania’s energy system into European systems as well as the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal.

The strategic energy projects are aimed at ensuring Lithuania’s energy independence and the country’s integration in the European energy market.

The government expects the new nuclear facility to be launched by 2020-2022 and Lithuania’s electricity grids to be synchronized with those of Europe by 2020.

The construction of the LNG terminal in the port of Klaipėda is expected to be finalized by the end of 2014.