Russia's state-owned gas giant said it would not include Lithuania in the discount scheme offered to Latvia and Estonia.
VILNIUS - Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius has accused Russian state-owned gas company Gazprom of "blackmail" after the energy provider refused to cut prices.
Gazprom has announced that it will give Latvia and Estonia a 15% discount next year, but that it will not extend the same offer to Lithuania.
"If this is confirmed as Gazprom’s official position, we should regard this as economic blackmail against Lithuania,” Kubilius told reporters.
"We will certainly inform the European Commission and other officials about this. We trust in the solidarity of the EU in energy matters,” he said.
Lithuania's relations with the company have been strained lately as the country looks at measures to reduce its dependency on energy from Russia. Following the closure of Lithuania's nuclear power plant at the start of this year, it is now heavily reliant on energy from Gazprom.
Earlier this year, Gazprom demanded 135 million USD in compensation from the Lithuania, claiming that the government broke contract on the 2003 sale of Kaunas heat and power plant (KTE) by altering the gas pricing scheme.
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