"Based on the information that is known, for I personally have not read the agreement, in the initial stages, before the final decision to invest and build the nuclear power plant is made, the financial risks that the Lithuanian government may potentially face are neither a billion nor an amount close to that," she told the parliament.
Šimonytė thus responded to a comment by Kęstutis Glaveckas, chairman of the parliamentary Budget and Finance Committee, that Lithuania would have to pay huge compensations to the Japanese if a shareholders' agreement were not signed or if talks on the construction of the nuclear power plant broke down.
"The sums could be enormous," he said.
Šimonytė said that the Finance Ministry specialists are currently analyzing the draft concession agreement, which the government and Hitachi initialed in late March. After that, the document will be submitted to the government and then to the Seimas for approval. If the parliament greenlights the agreement, it is planned to be signed by 28 June.
Lithuania expects to build the new facility in Visaginas by 2020-2022 together with Japan's Hitachi as the strategic investor and Latvian and Estonian energy companies.
