Latvia will buy electricity not through Lithuania, but through the Latvian-Belarusian and Latvian-Russian borders. This is due to the fact that Lithuania wants to block trade in electricity after Belarus launches a nuclear power plant built with credit funds from the Russian Federation.
The Belarusian website “Chesnok” reports this with reference to the Ministry of Economy of Latvia, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda expressed regret about Latvia's decision, but admits that the move was not unexpected.
“The decision of the Latvians is a political decision. Was this really a surprise? Probably not,” the Delfi website quotes Nausėda as saying.
Senior expert at the Institute of Energy and Finance Sergei Kondratiev believes that as a result of Latvia’s decision, Lithuanian businessmen will have the opportunity to buy “harmful” Belarusian electricity.
“What should Lithuania do when, after the launch of the BelNPP and the import of electricity from the station, Latvia becomes an “electric hub”? If a Lithuanian company wants to buy electricity from a Latvian trader, it will do so. Because it is practically impossible to legally prohibit it. Lithuanian politicians will put pressure on their neighbors, appealing to the so-called idea of “Baltic unity,” but I doubt that Latvia needs this,” the RuBaltic.Ru expert quotes.
The first power unit of the nuclear power plant in Ostrovets will be launched in December this year.
It is expected that it will generate 18 billion kWh of electricity annually. Russia provides financial and technical support to the project: it provided a loan for construction, sent specialists and is ready to dispose of spent fuel. At the same time, Lithuania is constantly stirring up a scandal around the BelNPP, claiming that the station poses an environmental hazard.