Hitachi still interested in nuclear plant in Lithuania, Grybauskaitė says

“Hitachi is open to further cooperation with Lithuania in various sectors. With no doubt, they are still interested, if Lithuania wants to build a nuclear power plant in the future, and are ready to help us do so. They are ready to review funding and the funding mechanism,” Grybauskaitė told BNS by phone from Davos on Thursday.

According to the Lithuanian president, the country must preserve ties with Hitachi as the government will have to make decisions sooner or later on the production of competitive power in the country. Currently, Lithuania imports a major part of power, mainly from Russia.

“Lithuania has to make decisions on ways to resolve the long-term power production problem. We have become independent in terms of gas supply but we still import around 80 percent of power from Russia, and it’s one of the most expensive,” the president said.

Japanese investments are also important for Lithuania because they come “with a very transparent corporate culture.”

During a meting of the Baltic prime ministers in December, Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius pledged to step up negotiations with Hitachi and Latvian and Estonian partners on the construction of the Visaginas nuclear power plant.

In the summer of 2011, Lithuania chose Hitachi as a strategic investor for the new nuclear facility. But the Baltic country held an advisory referendum a year later when the project failed to gain public support. The incumbent government has not made its final decision on the project.

While in Davos, Grybauskaitė has also discussed investments with Google and Thremofisher representatives.