This content was published on April 19, 2022 – 3:31 pm April 19, 2022 – 3:31 pm
Riga, 19 April (EFE).- Latvia will amend its energy law to officially prevent the purchase of Russian gas by the end of the year, Economy Minister Janis Vitenbergs announced on Tuesday after a Latvian government meeting.
Vitenbergs called the decision “historic” and said the government has agreed in principle to buy gas for next autumn and winter from Lithuania’s Klaipeda liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and a floating LNG terminal in Estonia, which they jointly operate become and Finland.
The amendment of Latvia’s law banning Russian gas purchases has yet to go through Parliament or the Saeima.
The economy minister, who represents the centre-right National Alliance party in the four-party coalition chaired by Prime Minister Arturs Krisjanis Karins, said his ministry would consider private sector proposals before May 31 to push ahead with the construction of a bus station . LNG and regasification on the Latvian coast.
Vitenbergs traveled to the United States a few weeks ago, where he met potential investors for an LNG plant off the coast of Latvia. He said at the time that the main criteria for selecting a project in this context will be that it does not require government funding, can be built quickly and is economically viable.
Regarding the plans to end dependence on Russian gas, Karins said that Latvia will not give any public guarantees for any of the LNG projects, except for the Estonian-Lithuanian joint regarding the end of Russian gas imports by the end of the year or earlier.
Vitenbergs said that he has delegated negotiations on the terms of gas purchase contracts to the Estonian-Finnish floating terminal, which will be located in the Estonian port of Paldiski.
Speaking to Efe, he explained that it is still too early to say whether Latvia will share the cost of renting the LNG terminal through the public energy company Latvenergo or just buy the gas it needs.
According to Estonian media, renting the floating terminal would cost Estonia around 10 million euros a year.
Latvia, which announced it will stop buying Russian gas by the end of the year, will also buy gas from the Klaipeda terminal and store it together with that from the Paldiski terminal in an underground facility in the Latvian town of Incukalns.
Incukalns depots are managed by Conexus Baltic Grid, established in 2016 as a Baltic wholesale storage and distribution network.
“The active gas capacity of the underground storage facility can reach 2.3 billion cubic meters, which can fully meet the fuel and electricity needs of Latvia and the region,” the company said on its website. EFE
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