Baltic leaders unhappy with Ignalina's slow progress

TALLINN- The Prime Ministers of Estonia andPoland have announced their dissatisfaction regarding the slow progress on Lithuania's new Ignalina power station.

"We are absolutely dissatisfied with the very slow pace of the preparations regarding the plan to build a new nuclear power station at Ignalina in Lithuania," Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip told reporters during a visit with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

 Ansip said that all three Baltic authorities will meet with Polish authorities to discuss the slow progress.

 "The slowness of Ignalina project in Lithuania has been the only reason why Estonia has launched preparations to look for an option to build its own nuclear power station," Ansip said.

Ansip also commented on the Pan-Baltic power grid, but said priorities lie in the the Ignalina power station construction.

 "We also need an energy connection between Lithuania and Poland but a new Ignalina power station is a pre-requisite for this," said Ansip.

 Originally slated to be opened by 2015, experts now say that the new Ignalina plant can be realistically expected to open in 2020.