EU to fund LNG terminal only if all Baltic States participate

  • 2012-07-23

BRUSSELS - Head of the European Commission’s office in Latvia Inna Steinbuka said that the European Union will not co-finance the construction of a LNG terminal if an agreement is not reached for involving all Baltic States in the project, oilandgaseurasia.com reports.

"The main idea for this terminal is reducing Latvia and other Baltic countries' dependence on the Russian energy system. But I again want to stress that all three countries should participate. If each hogs the covers, nothing will happen," she said.

Commenting on press reports that the European Commission considers Estonia to be the best location for the LNG terminal's construction and that Finland wants to join the project, Steinbuka said that there is no official confirmation of this.

Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were unable to reach a final agreement last autumn on the construction of an LNG terminal in Latvia. Therefore, the European Commission has been engaged in independent research in order to identify the most suitable location. As reported, Norwegian company Hoegh LNG won a public tender and is going to build a floating LNG storage tank containing gasification facility for Lithuania.

The terminal is expected to be fully outfitted and brought into operation by end of 2014.