After his meeting with Polish Minister of Energy Krzysztof Tchorzewski, however, Masiulis also emphasized that the Polish minister had all low-standard power plants in mind, not just the controversial Belarusian nuclear power plant in Astravyets.
“We touched on the Astravyets question in the general context of matching production standards in third countries and the European Union. Here, our positions matched, that the rules, regardless of the source of production, must be the same. So, for example, if they are being built to a lower standard in Belarus and Russia, we need to discuss how to prevent that electricity from entering our markets,” Masiulis told BNS from Warsaw.
Lithuania is the fiercest critic of the Astravyets nuclear power plant in Belarus, which is being built less than 50km from Vilnius.
Last year, Masiulis sent a letter to his colleagues in the other Baltic states, Finland and Poland urging them to find a way to limit electricity imports from allegedly unsafe nuclear power plants being built in Belarus and Kaliningrad.
“We presented our opinion about Astravyets, and that the power plant is being built in violation of certain rules and standards, the Polish minister heard us out, and at this stage, he emphasized that safety is very important in nuclear power plant construction and that it must be ensured,” said Masiulis.
He claimed that the specific question of the Astravyets NPP will be discussed with Polish experts in a task group: “We agreed that we will create an inter-ministerial task group whose first meeting will be in June, and they will find solutions to all of the questions that involve Polish and Lithuanian energy,” said Masiulis.
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