LITHUANIA SIGNS LONG-TERM AGREEMENT WITH RUSSIA'S GAZPROM.(Brief Article)

Europe Energy, December, 1999

Lithuania_s State gas company has signed an agreement in Moscow with the Russian giant Gazprom on the supply of Russian gas to Lithuania over the period 2000-2005. Lithuanian Gas plans next year to purchase about 1.5 billion m3 of Russian natural gas, with imports set to rise to 2.5 billion m3 in 2005.

The contract is the first long-term agreement signed with Gazprom which had previously only signed annual agreements with Lithuania. According to Lithuanian Gas Director Kestutis Sumacheris, quoted by the Baltic Press Agency BNS, the new agreement will guarantee gas supplies to Lithuania for six years. The price of deliveries has been set at USD76 per 1000m3 for the first six months of 2000. Thereafter, prices will fluctuate according to world market prices.