The initiators – Lithuanian Union of Farmers and Greens, the Lithuanian Green Movement, organization Green Lithuania, heads of some municipalities and parliamentarians – say they have submitted the signatures to the Central Electoral Commission on Tuesday.
"In sign of support to the referendum regarding the nuclear power plant, our initiative was signed by more than 110,000 citizens of Lithuania. The collection of signatures yielded superb results – Lithuania will hold an advisory referendum, which is unfavorable for the administration, and the outcome will depend on argumentation and discussions," Tomas Tomilinas, coordinator of the steering group, said in a press release.
During an extraordinary session on Monday, the parliament decided that the referendum on N-plant construction would be held in conjunction with the general elections on 14 October 2012.
The Seimas has already given the go-ahead for the construction of the new facility but the final investments decisions will be taken by the end of 2015.
Lithuania expects to build the new nuclear power facility in Visaginas by 2020. The government plans that the facility’s construction will be launched in 2014 and it could start generating electricity in 2020.
In line with existing plans, Hitachi, the strategic investor, would own 20 percent of shares in Visaginas plant and Lithuania would hold 38 percent. Latvia and Estonia would take stakes of 20 percent and 22 percent, respectively. The ownership stakes could change, if Poland joined the project.
