Lithuanian energmin urges EC to initiate gas cap

VILNIUS – As the European Commission on Friday failed to propose a price cap for all imported natural gas, Lithuanian Minister Dainius Kreivys continues to urge the Commission to take up this initiative. 

"We propose to act immediately and set a price cap for natural gas used for electricity generation. The second step we should take is to set a price cap for natural gas on the wholesale market," Kreivys said in a statement issued by the Energy Ministry after he attended an extraordinary meeting of EU energy ministers in Brussels. 

"The EC's proposed price cap for natural gas imported through pipelines alone does not solve the price problem and does not reduce the financial burden on household energy consumers and businesses," he added.

A broader approach is needed to find a way to cap gas on the wholesale market without harming the EU market, Kreivys pointed out.

This issue will be further discussed at the ministerial meeting in Prague on October 11-12.

In a letter to EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson earlier this week, the energy ministers from Lithuania and 14 other countries called on the Commission to propose to the Council on Friday to set a price cap for all gas imports into the EU. 

Simson said on Friday she backed the proposal to introduce a price cap for gas imported from Russia.