"We are not approving this new model yet, seeing that the EC continues to analyze (complaints from Lithuanian gas consumers). We have no final answer from them yet, but from our communication with them, we already have an idea of what direction things are likely to take. Certain changes will be made then," he told Žinių Radijas radio station on Thursday.
The fertilizer manufacturer Achema has complained to the EU's executive body about the so-called "25 percent rule" and an extra gas transmission tariff component introduced in order to raise funds for the LNG terminal project. The company says that the extra charge alone will cost it around 80 million litas (EUR 23m) over two years.
The Energy Ministry has proposed a new model under which all regulated electricity and heat producers would be obliged to purchase gas through a state-authorized supplier, which, in its turn, would have to buy 540 million cubic meters of natural gas annually from the LNG facility. That would account for half of the terminal's capacity in its first year of operation.
Under the 25 percent rule, as it stands now, large gas consumers would have to purchase 25 percent of their annual gas supplies from the LNG facility and another 25 percent from Russia's Gazprom, which supplies gas by pipeline, starting in 2015.
