Rosatom seeks EU favors on Astravyets, Gazprom retains influence in Lithuania

“Ever increasing activity of corporation’s Rosatom “image builders” (lobbyists, diplomats, polittechnologists, journalists) indicates about an exceptional Russia’s attention to energy projects developed in Lithuania’s neighbourhood. It is likely that in the short-term this attention will grow: it will be further sought to inveigle the officials of European Commission, make impact through press, and exploit Russian and Belarusian polittechnologists,” reads the assessment of national security threats published on Monday.

According to the intelligence officers, a club of Russian and Belarusian experts founded in Minsk in March of 2016 and involving prominent Russian propaganda figures, and its agenda includes improvement of the image of the Astavyets Nuclear Power Plant. The department said responses of the club’s members about Astravyets show that it is a political project.

The report suggests that Russia is also intensifying lobbyism in European Union (EU) institutions, seeking to revive the Baltic Nuclear Power Plant in the Kaliningrad region. Lobbyist events were held to ensure exports markets in the EU, however, the events were not successful.

The State Security Department expects Russia’s Gazprom to seek preserving its influence in the region and supply gas via mediators in its favor.

“It is forecast that Gazprom will seek to retain positions in the region by also trying to manipulate in price of the supplied gas: for instance, acting through particularly loyal trade mediators create for them more favorable purchasing conditions than for the other buyers,” reads the report.