"I was informed that there had been meetings with Japanese financial institutions, JBIC (the Japan Bank for International Cooperation) and NEXI (Japan's state export and investment insurance company), which reiterated that they would provide crediting for that project and that it would be very favorable to Lithuania," he told the Žinių Radijas radio station.
The energy minister is standing in for Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius, who on Thursday is returning to Lithuania from his visit to Japan.
Sekmokas said that public support for the new nuclear power plant is likely to increase in the future, because with negotiations still ongoing, some information about the project is now being kept confidential.
"Talks are underway and part of information is confidential. But I have talked to the top executives of the Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant and asked them to have a communication plan worked out in the near future of how that part of information that is not confidential will be made public and presented both to the leaders of the state and members of the Seimas and to the general public," he said.
Sekmokas said earlier that he could hardly imagine the Visaginas project being implemented without Japanese banks' participation.
It is said that Japanese, US and European banks should finance 50-70 percent of the total cost of the project, which is estimated at up to 5 billion euros.
Lithuania expects to build the new nuclear power facility by 2020, with the help of the strategic investor and Latvian and Estonian energy companies.
Hitachi will build a poweplant
Japan's Hitachi would build a safe new nuclear power plant in Lithuania and would complete it on schedule, Rimantas Vaitkus, the CEO of Visagino Atomine Elektrine (Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant, or VAE), said on Wednesday.
Vaitkus, who is accompanying Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius on his trip to Japan, described Hitachi's technological level as very high.
"What I saw today is the highest technological level I have ever seen. And I have seen quite a lot in different continents. What is very important is that top priority is placed on safety. The series of power plants that Hitachi has built with their people and partners show clearly that they do that on schedule and on budget. I think this is what is very important for us to know," he said.
Kubilius said on Tuesday the government's negotiations with Hitachi, the strategic investor in the planned new nuclear power plant, had reached the final stage.
Lithuania expects to build the new nuclear power facility by 2020, with the help of the strategic investor and Latvian and Estonian energy companies. The project is estimated to cost up to 5 billion euros to build, with Japanese, US and European banks expected to provide some 50-70 percent of the financing.
