Lithuania, Sweden should agree on "excess profits" without EC help – adviser

VILNIUS - Lithuania and Sweden should negotiate ways to share electricity producers' excess profits without the European Commission's assistance, Asta Skaisgiryte, the Lithuanian president's senior foreign policy adviser, says.

"The European Commission can be involved, if necessary, but I don't think we should do that with our Swedish neighbors. I think we should be able to reach a mutual agreement," Skaisgiryte told Lithuania's Ziniu Radijas news radio on Tuesday. 

"We this possibility to turn to the Commission but, initially, we are trying to agree together. I really believe that our (energy - BNS) ministry will succeed in reaching a bilateral agreement," Skaisgiryte added. 

She has no doubt that an agreement with Sweden will be reached: "There cannot be otherwise as this is a pan-EU obligation ". In her words, the electricity flows from Sweden to Lithuania and the profits made by Swedish electricity producers can be verified, she said.

"Sweden is a transparent country, and it's no secret that this data is available," she said, adding that almost half of the electricity consumed in Lithuania is imported from Sweden. 

Last week, Lithuanian Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys said Lithuania's disagreement with Sweden over the sharing of electricity producers' excess profits would probably require EC mediation.

In late September, EU energy ministers agreed on a market revenue cap of 180 euros per megawatt-hour "for electricity generators, including intermediaries, that use so-called inframarginal technologies to produce electricity, such as renewables, nuclear and lignite".