Nuclear plant bills pass first reading in Lithuanian Parliament

In a vote of 63 to 11 with 33 abstentions, the parliament voted to open debates on the bills regulating the construction of the new nuclear power plant. The Seimas is expected to return to the project in June after parliamentary committees present their conclusions.

"Our aim is to ensure sufficient energy resources at a fair price through projects that are economically viable and beneficial to Lithuania," Energy Minister Arvydas Sekmokas said while presenting the package, noting that the country now imports 74 percent of the electricity it consumes from a single source.

The minister said that the legislation, if approved by the Seimas (parliament), would help turn the energy independence aspiration plans into "real facilities ensuring Lithuania's energy security."

"Nobody questions the significance of energy independence. Having sufficient electricity generation capacities of its own and an efficient alternative source of energy imports forms the basis of our country's energy independence," he said.

Once the nuclear power facility is built, Lithuania will save almost 2 billion litas (EUR 580 m) annually, which it now spends on electricity imports, Sekmokas said.

The Visaginas nuclear power plant project is expected to generate 5 billion litas worth of potential orders for construction businesses, create around 6,000 new jobs, help collect 5 billion to 6 billion litas in additional budget revenues and add "30 billion litas or even more" to the country's gross domestic product, he said.

The minister called on lawmakers not to use the debates on the nuclear power plant bills to campaign for the upcoming general elections.

Social Democratic MP Algirdas Sysas said that the Visaginas project is doomed to the same fate as the sale of the Mažeikiai crude oil refinery. "As to Mažeikiai, the result is that we have the most expensive (fuel) in the region. I think that in 10 or 20 years, if we carry out this illusionary project, we will have the most expensive electricity in the region," he said.

Social Democratic MP Birutė Vėsaitė, member of parliamentary Economics Committee, predicts that Latvia will pull out of the project if Russia proposes to sell it electricity at 0.10 litas per kilowatt-hour. "Do you think the Latvians will take part (in the project)?" she asked.

The Cabinet formally approved a package of laws and other documents related to the country's key energy projects last week. If the Seimas endorses the documents by the end of June, a concession agreement with Japan's Hitachi on the Visaginas nuclear power plant - the country's largest-ever energy project at an estimated 16 billion to 18 billion litas (EUR 4.6-5.2 b) - is expected to be signed by Jun. 28 at the latest.

Hitachi, the strategic investor, would own 20 percent of shares in the 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.

The Visaginas project is estimated to cost up to 5 billion euros at current prices and around 6.8 billion euros including interest, inflation and changes in the investment's value due to exchange rate fluctuations.