According to Neverovič, since the project is a regional one, all partners should share preparatory work costs.
"The logic of the project is that certain work has to be done before a final investment decision is made. (These tasks) have already been formulated earlier, including a final financing model, answers to certain technical questions, and exact participation of partners. This can only be done together and with the regional partners present," he said during the Lietuva Tiesiogiai (Lithuania Live) program on Lietuvos Ryto TV on Monday.
Asked to explain if there were plans to set up a joint venture, with Latvia and Estonia chipping in it funds, before talks with Hitachi could be reopened, the minister said, "Hitachi is also a partner in this project. This is a conversation that has to be done jointly by all the participants."
Neverovič explained that the previous government tried to make the new nuclear power plant an exclusively Lithuanian project, as it established the company Visagino Atominė Elektrinė (Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant, or VAE) for its implementation.
"The (joint) company is a necessary condition. The previous government tried to make this project a Lithuanian project. VAE undertook to do all those things itself, which, I think, was a mistake, because there was no trust among the partners. There was always Lithuania, with Latvians and Estonians on other side of the table. All of them should have worked together on this project and share the financial burden (of paying) to lawyers, consultants, etc," he said.
Neverovič reiterated his previous words that talks with Hitachi could be continued if the terms of the project were improved.
The minister said on Monday that talks with Hitachi on building a nuclear power facility in Visaginas could be continued, provided that the Japanese corporation agreed to invest in the project. At the same time, he underlined the importance of gaining public approval for building a new nuclear power plant.
Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius said on Monday that Lithuania should be a "nuclear energy country." He explained later on the same day that he only meant that Lithuania still has to decommission Ignalina nuclear power plant.
The prime minister said that the Visaginas project could not be continued in its current form and that the project could be resumed only on condition that its costs were lowered and the price of electricity production reduced.
