Lithuania reaches deal with Russia's Gazprom on 2019 gas supplies

VILNIUS - Lithuania and Russia's gas giant Gazprom have agreed on the terms of gas supplies in 2019, with the final signatures yet to be put on the contract, the supply arm of the state energy group Lietuvos Energija (Lithuanian Energy) said on Monday. 

"The contract is currently being formalized. The terms and conditions have been agreed. We have secured gas supply from January 1," Lietuvos Energijos Tiekimas (Lithuanian Energy Supply, or LET) told BNS.    

The company's officials said on the afternoon of the last day of 2018 that they were waiting for the final signatures to be put on the contract. 

LET would not disclose how much gas it plans to buy from Gazprom, but its officials have said the quantity will not be higher than that in 2018.

The company also plans to purchase liquefied natural gas from Norway and other suppliers next year.

Gazprom has said Lithuania imported 764 million cubic meters of gas from Russia in the first half of 2018, down by 4 percent year-on-year.

Russian gas accounted for just over 50 percent of Lithuania's total gas consumption in 2017.

Lithuania's authorities had for years accused Russia of using gas supply as a tool of political pressure. Lithuania ended Gazprom's monopoly by launching a LNG terminal in Klaipeda in 2015.