President Grybauskaitė: Lithuania shall review its energy strategy

“This should not be missed. It’s necessary to invest where it is necessary, therefore the energy strategy in Lithuania shall be reviewed once again in terms of short-term and long-term outlook. We’ll discuss that – where the world is moving, what will be the influence of China, the United States, Russia and the European Union itself. Falling prices and the emergence of energy alternatives – those are significant geopolitical changes and Lithuania shall find its place, use the changes to its advantage,” she told the LRT Radio on Thursday.

The economies importing fuel should grow in the future while those exporting energy resources are expected to contract, which means that Russia will face a yet deeper crisis, whereas Lithuania and other importers of energy resources will see growth of both the economy and investment, she said.

“Global trends differ widely. Forecasts from the World Bank show that the whole world, its economy will grow by approximately 3 percent, but the current situation would mostly hit the exporters of energy resources. For example, the growth projected for our neighbour, Russia, is a negative figure of up to 3 percent, which means contraction, a crisis. Meanwhile, the importing countries, including us, actually have a window of possibility. When fuel prices are falling, there are possibilities to invest that money in future growth, in our energy security,” Grybauskaitė said.

Next week, Grybauskaitė, alongside 300 heads of state or government, government members and 1,500 business leaders from more than 140 countries, will attend the World Economic Forum, which will take place in Davos, Switzerland, on 21–24 January.