By that time, Gazprom's long-term contracts with Lietuvos Dujos (Lithuanian Gas) and Achema will have ended and a liquefied natural gas terminal in Klaipėda will have been put into operation, as planned.
A quote from Russian President Vladimir Putin was given during the conference in Brussels, saying, "We must do everything possible to prevent difficulties with the EU, and, therefore, Russia is looking for opportunities in other markets. Asia awaits Russia."
Tatyana Mitrova, the head of the World Energy Section of the Skolkovo Energy Center, has said during the conference in Brussels that Russia is seeking to find out if Europe intends to continue buying Russian gas and that Gazprom is already looking for possibilities to sell gas in Asia.
Asia is where the Russians see an alternative gas export route, but admit that it is unlikely to open up for them until 2018-2020 at the earliest.
Mitrova gave a list of countries, including the Baltic countries, which pressed or are pressing Gazprom to revise the terms and conditions of gas supply contracts. Lithuania, which is the largest buyer of gas in the region, "is demanding" a 15 percent discount that has already been granted to Estonia and Latvia.
"Gazprom has strong commercial reasons to maintain its current pricing in Europe for another three years, because with the gas price being indexed to oil product changes, even lower gas sale volumes guarantee high profitability. Also, developing new gas fields is very costly and these investments have to pay back," she said.
Gazprom's representatives acknowledge that the EU's third directive, which provides for the so-called unbundling of natural gas assets, poses major risks to Russia.
The European Commission has launched an investigation, suspecting that Gazprom is abusing its dominant position in Central and Eastern European gas markets, in breach of EU antitrust rules. It is thought that the probe might take around two years, until 2015, to complete.
However, if Gazprom lowered the gas price for Lithuania now, that would mean that it admits having applied incorrect pricing to its customers. Because of that, the gas supplier would face a fine amounting to billions of dollars, according to Eversus.lt.
"In a situation like this, Gazprom will not give in an inch both due to financial reasons and the country's mentality. On the other hand, the Russians understand perfectly that they will get nothing in return," the website quoted energy experts as saying.
Lithuania initiated a suit against Gazprom at the Stockholm arbitration tribunal this month.
