Press release, 8 July 2014
In
accordance with the procedure of special urgency, the Seimas adopted a
Resolution (draft No XIIP-1935) by which it decided to grant a state guarantee
to the Nordic Investment Bank regarding the loan in the amount of EUR 34,754
million (LTL 120 million) provided to AB Klaipėdos Nafta to finance an
investment project, Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal. The Resolution was
enacted by 75 votes in favour to no votes against and two abstentions.
As stated
by the Ministry of Finance, the loan is provided for the period of 20 years, at
the volatile interest rate, and its repayment will start in 5 years time. The
state guarantee provides a possibility to AB Klaipėdos Nafta to
implement an investment project, Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal, which
is primarily aimed at resolving the problem of Lithuanias reliance on the sole
external gas supplier, decreasing Gazproms dominating position in the
negotiations on natural gas price, and enabling gas market participants to
choose contracts where pricing mechanism is not linked to the price of oil,
the Ministry of Finance explains.
Vice-minister
of Energy, Aleksandras Spruogis, noted that the aim of the said Resolution of
the Seimas is to ensure the continuity of the funding of Klaipėda Liquefied
Natural Gas Terminal project. He also added that the parliamentary Resolution
adopted on 2 July 2013 provided a state guarantee to the European Investment
Bank for a loan in the amount of up to LTL 280 million granted to AB Klaipėdos
Nafta. The Ministry of Finance inquired the European Commission regarding
the loan of the European Investment Bank, i.e., whether it could be regarded as
state aid. The European Commission decided that granting of a state guarantee
for a loan that did not exceed the amount of LTL 400 million was admissible state
aid, the vice-minister said.
Rimas Rudaitis, Public Relations Unit, Communications Department, tel.
+370 5 239 6132,
e-mail: [email protected]
