Gas deliveries to Itera unexpectedly halted

Russia's gas giant Gazprom on Monday halted the supply of natural gas by the Itera Group to Lithuania, the daily newspaper Lietuvos Rytas reported on Nov. 5.

According to the paper, Alexander Ryazanov, chairman of Gazprom's management board, said in a letter to Lietuvos Dujos, the Lithuanian natural gas utility, that deliveries by Itera Holding to Lithuania had been halted for an indefinite period of time due to Itera's continued failure to pay Gazprom for gas transportation in Russia.

The halt to gas supplies will lead to a reduction in Itera's quotas for Lithuania, which Dujotekana, the local supplier of Gazprom's natural gas to Lithuania, is trying to obtain. Dujotekana is already supplying fuel to Itera's customer, the heating utility Klaipedos Energija.

Itera, through Itera Lithuania, sells natural gas to the heating utilities Klaipedos Energija and Kauno Energija, and Lietuvos Elektrine, the thermal power plant based in Elektrenai, central Lithuania.

The halt to Itera's gas supplies also applies to Intergas, a local company controlled by Itera Latvija. Intergas is inaugurating a natural gas pipeline from Belarus to Druskininkai, southern Lithuania, on Nov. 5.

Ricardas Seibelis, CEO of Intergas, confirmed the information about the halt in deliveries, but said that the issue of Itera's gas supplies to Lithuania would be resolved within a day.