Lithuanian Prime Minister thinks nuclear plant referendum would only bring confusion

"The initiation of such a referendum at this time will not help the development of a very important project, Visaginas nuclear power plant, its continuity, and might bring about additional confusion into talks with regional partners," Kubilius told the Žinių Radijas (News Radio) on Thursday.

Lithuania hopes to build a new nuclear power plant by 2020-2022 in cooperation with Japanese company Hitachi as well as Latvian and Estonian energy companies.

Lithuania's Seimas is holding an extraordinary session on Monday and plans to decide on holding a referendum. Initiators want the referendum to be held alongside general elections on 14 October.

"Such initiation of a referendum, when members of the Seimas initiate it, to my mind, is pure politicizing. The main initiators of such a referendum are small parties or MPs split off from various parties. Perhaps they hope to highlight their activities ahead of the upcoming elections," the Lithuanian prime minister said.

Kubilius also reminded that a group who tried to initiate an N-plant referendum managed to collect only 46,000 signatures instead of 300,000 needed for holding a referendum.

"As various initiatives on collecting signatures on holding a referendum have shown, people are rather skeptical and cautious," Kubilius said.

The prime minister also added that holding a referendum would be more meaningful in several years following final investment decisions on the N-plant.

"If we want to have a rational opinion of the public, including one received in a referendum, such a referendum should be held in several years, when we'll need to make key decisions, and not now," he said.

Latvia is interested in taking part in Visaginas nuclear power plant in Lithuania and is ready to move forward after all financial issues are addressed, Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis said in late June.

He refused, however, to comment on the proposal of a group of Lithuanian politicians to hold a referendum on the construction of the nuclear facility, and said the project's economic benefit was a key issue to Riga.

"As regard this possible referendum, it is for each country to decide on which matters to hold referendum. So I don’t think it would be appropriate to comment much on this," the Latvian prime minister said.

Latvia currently imports more than half of its power from Russia which is also a sole gas importer in the country.

Supporters of the N-plant project say it will ensure energy security and power supply for a competitive price. Meanwhile critic say a nuclear power plant will be too heavy a financial burden for the state.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė supports the project. She has said recently that this project was important as it would stimulate the country's economy for 50 years.