Moreover, Jaroslav Neverovič stated at the meeting with Russia's ambassador to Lithuania Vladimir Chkhikvadze that Lithuania had already sent an invitation to open expert-level talks with the Russian energy company Gazprom on the terms of gas supply, according to a press release from the Energy Ministry.
Daiva Rimašauskaitė, an adviser to the energy minister, told BNS that the date of talks with Gazprom had not been set yet. Talks with Gazprom and consultations with Russia on the EU’s Third Energy Package were two different things, she pointed out.
Russia wants to hold consultations on the implementation of the Third Energy Package as early as next week, on April 25. Neverovič earlier told BNS that the consultations could be launched on April 25 but this had not yet been confirmed.
Russia claims that Lithuania‘s legislation pertaining to the Third Energy Package violates the rights of Russian investors in the energy sector.
Lithuania plans to unbundle the assets of Lietuvos Dujos (Lithuanian Gas), in which Gazprom holds a 37.1-percent stake, by the end of 2014 to bring it into line with the Third Energy Package. Gas transmission pipelines of the Lithuanian gas import and distribution company will be spun off into a new company, Amber Grid, during the first stage of unbundling at the end of July.
