In his view, breaking free from dependence on Russia as the sole supplier of gas and a major electricity supplier is the key economic goal of the country.
“A functioning liquefied gas terminal supplying cheap gas to Lithuania may actually be more important for Lithuania in geopolitical terms than an anti-ballistic missile system in Poland,” he said at a conference organized by the Valstybė magazine on Thursday.
“Strong energy industry provides a foundation for the entire economy. Then we could take a sufficiently active role in the European Union, in the global economy, although we are a small country,” he said.
Lithuania now pays 1,350 litas (EUR 391.3) per 1,000 cubic meters of natural gas to Russia’s Gazprom, while the UK pays 850 litas, the Netherlands - approximately 800 litas, and the US - some 250 litas, the minister says. According to Sekmokas, that gap resulted on the lack of competition and alternative suppliers in Lithuania.
Lithuania imports 78 percent of energy from Russia and meager 2 percent from alternative suppliers, the minister points out. The authorities expect that with the LNG terminal and the nuclear facility built, in 2020, the imports of all types of energy will cover 48 percent of total energy needs and the nuclear power plant in Visaginas will supply 29 percent of total energy required for the country.
Colleagues' dismissal
A member of the parliamentary National Security and Defense Committee, Valentinas Mazuronis of Order and Justice party, has dismissed Minister Sekmokas' statements as odd.
In Mazuronis' words, the minister should worry about energy matters rather than make assessments of defense systems.
"It is odd to see an energy minister becoming a defense minister and making such assessments. It is an odd assessment, to put it diplomatically," Mazuronis told BNS.
"Instead of comparing energy projects and defense systems, the minister should do his job and worry about making energy projects bring economic benefits to the people of Lithuania and look into their costs," the member of the parliamentary committee said.
Another member of the parliamentary body, former defense minister Juozas Olekas of opposition Social Democrats, said the comparison was misguided, as military and energy security were two different things.
"These things cannot be compared. There is military security and nobody can change that, and there is energy security – setting them against each other and comparing is incorrect," Olekas told BNS in comment of the minister's words.
Meanwhile, Arvydas Anušauskas, chairman of the National Security and Defense Committee, downplayed the minister's statement.
"I don't attach importance to various figurative statements," Anušauskas told BNS.
