Meanwhile Arvydas Sekmokas, who served as energy minister in Butkevičius’s predecessor Andrius Kubilius‘ government, says the letter he sent on his final day in the office to the European Union, asking it to temporarily stop funding for the Ignalina NPP’s decommissioning, was necessary as he saw no other way to attract attention to the existing problems.
According to delif.lt, an ad hoc parliamentary commission was set up during the term of the Butkevičius government to investigate the situation in Lithuania’s energy sector. It concluded that Sekmokas potentially exceeded his powers in December, 2012.
450.8 million euros have been allocated for Ignalina’s decommissioning from the EU budget for 2014-2020 after the project received 837.4 million euros in 2007-2013, BNS Lithuania reminds.
Lithuania is asking for around 780 million euros for the project for 2021–2027 but the European Commission has proposed allocating 552 million euros.
Along EU funding, the decommissioning is being also co-funded from a national fund covering 14 percent of projects’ value.
Lithuania made the commitment to close the Ignalina NPP when joining the EU. The facility was completely stopped in late 2009 and its decommissioning is estimated to be finished by 2038.