"We have lately seen increasingly aggressive behavior on Russia's side. We should see beyond the economic war on the border, we should see the aggressively unconstructive stance Gazprom has taken in the alleged negotiations. We see an electricity price hike on electricity markets – a rather new phenomenon, which I want to draw attention to," Kubilius, the leader of the opposition Homeland Union–Lithuanian Christian Democrats (Conservatives), told a news conference on Monday.
In his words, Russian imported electricity was rather cheap after the decommissioning of the Lithuanian Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in 2009, but started growing unexpectedly.
"Our guess is that (the electricity) was cheap until they wanted to lure us into dropping the Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant project, and as soon as the current administration started showing signs of being lured to stall the project, the Russian electricity started growing more expensive. Currently its price on the market is about 6 cents higher than it was last year or the year before. This is also something we should seriously think about," he added.
In Kubilius' words, Russia's attitude is becoming more aggressive towards Lithuania and other neighbors. He urged the center-left Lithuanian government to give up the illusion of improving the bilateral relations.
"My suggestion is that we give up the illusion that some reset of relations can change the situation. The latest trade war with Lithuania has made it clear that Russia does not care about what the ruling party in Lithuania is – the right wing or the left wing," said Kubilius, Lithuania's former prime minister.
Earlier in September, Russia tightened customs checks of Lithuanian cars and trucks at the border. Last week, Lithuania received Gazprom's proposals on gas prices, a proposal President Dalia Grybauskaitė dismissed as impossible.
