Hitachi sets up subsidiary for investment in Lithuanian nuclear project

According to data from the Center of Registers, the company was established on 1 June, but Aidas Petrošius, the registry office's spokesman, told BNS that the company was then registered as SI SPV-1 and that its name was formally changed to Hitachi Visaginas Project Investment on Wednesday.

The UK-registered Hitachi Visaginas Project Investment UK Limited, established on 18 May, is the shareholder of Hitachi Visaginas Project Investment, which has an authorized share capital of 50,000 litas (EUR 14,500). Takao Kurihara is the CEO of Hitachi Visaginas Project Investment.

Laimonas Skibarka, a partner with the law firm Sorainen, which advises Hitachi in the Visaginas nuclear power plant project, confirmed to BNS last Monday that the subsidiary company was being established to participate in the project.

Lithuania's state-owned Visagino Atominė Elektrinė (Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant, VNP) has recently established a subsidiary named VAE SPB (Visagino Atominė Elektrinė - Specialios Paskirties Bendrovė, or Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant - Special Purpose Vehicle) for investment in the project.

It was reported in early May that the Latvian government had given a go-ahead for Latvenergo to set up a new company for participation in the Visaginas project.

If the Lithuanian parliament endorses a package of documents related to the project, a concession agreement with Hitachi on the Visaginas nuclear power plant -- the country's largest-ever energy project at an estimated 16 billion to 18 billion litas (EUR 4.6-5.2 b) -- is expected to be signed by 28 June at the latest. A project company should be established by that time.

Hitachi, the strategic investor, would own 20 percent of shares in the project company and Lithuania would hold 38 percent. Latvia and Estonia would take stakes of 20 percent and 22 percent, respectively. It is likely that the plant will initially have only two shareholders, VAE SPB and Hitachi Visaginas Project Investment, and Latvenergo and Eesti Energia will join in at a later stage.

The ownership stakes could change if Poland joined the project.

The Visaginas project is estimated to cost up 5 billion euros at current prices and around 6.8 billion euros including interest, inflation and changes in the investment's value due to exchange rate fluctuations.