“Implementation of Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant decommissioning depends on the funding, the money that is allocated. If there is less of that money available, the decommissioning processes will take longer,” he said in an interview to Žinių Radijas on Thursday.
With Lithuania obliged to shut down the nuclear facility, the EU had committed to provide adequate funding for the decommissioning works as it had admitted that this burden would be unbearable for the country alone, Kubilius pointed out.
Prime Minister admitted that Lithuania’s government, much like EU institutions, was dissatisfied with the speed of the projects’ implementation. He pointed out, however, that “the management of the processes involves both Lithuania and EU institutions and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.”
“The efficiency of process management may suffer sometimes when there is more than one supervisor,” Kubilius said.
The European Commission has proposed to earmark slightly more than 200 million euros – much less than requested by Lithuania – for INPP decommissioning from the Union’s budget for 2014-2020. Lithuania is also discontent with the Commission’s proposal to establish a deadline for funding.
The shutdown of INPP was one of the conditions for Lithuania’s accession to the EU.
