"We are building the terminal for our own needs, not as a regional facility. However, we also see a potential for supplying gas to the storage facilities in Latvia after investing some money in the gas pipelines in northern Lithuania. That would help solve at least part of the region's problems," he told the Žiniu Radijas radio station.
Kubilius has declined to comment on Latvian Economics Minister Daniels Pavluts' statements that such a terminal in Klaipėda will be expensive and that it does not have the potential to become a regional one.
"I won't comment on that. I don't know if he is familiar with the Klaipėda terminal project and the figures. We are calculating very carefully and we see an economic potential," he said.
Kubilius underlined that for Lithuania, it is important to have an alternative gas supply as soon as possible.
"In Latvia, things are moving slower. As I understand from my conversations with the Latvian prime minister, they cannot change the situation until 2017 because of certain agreements with Gazprom. This means that any plans to build a regional terminal somewhere in Latvia, in Riga - which we would not object to and for which European funds could be used as well - could only be realized after 2017. That gap between now and 2017-2018 would be really complicated for us," he said.
Kubilius confirmed that Lithuania also needs an LNG terminal as an argument in talks with Russia's gas giant Gazprom on a lower gas price.
Lithuania expects to complete the LNG terminal in Klaipėda by 2014, which will provide it with an alternative to Gazprom's gas supplies.
Latvia has called on its Baltic neighbors to build a joint terminal in Riga and seek EU assistance for it as a regional project. Experts from the European Commission are currently assessing the viability of such a project.
