Unsafe power boycott would spur synchronization talks with Poland

In his words, the issue was on the agenda of the Friday’s meeting with Krzysztof Szczerski, secretary of state of the Polish President’s Office.

“I reminded (Szczerski) of the law being prepared in Lithuania at the moment about simply not buying from unsafe objects and, in other words, terminating the contacts. I should not talk for my colleague but in my point of view, this is a factor that should boost cooperation in this field of Poland supporting our aspiration. This brings more clarity, so we discussed the context, however, we should not speak about any final approvals, however, there is more clarity,” Linkevičius told BNS.

The Baltic states have agreed to disconnect from the Russian electricity network BRELL by 2025. The European Commission’s (EC) Joint Research Center is conducting a synchronization study, which would specify the best synchronization option for the Baltic states. It is analyzing the possibility of synchronizing the electricity networks via Poland, via Finland or for the Baltic states to work in a separate synchronized regime without connecting to European countries.

Lithuania’s Energy Minister Žygimantas Vaičiūnas told BNS in mid-December that the Joint Research Center’s preliminary recommendation was to synchronize the networks via Poland as the cheapest alternative. He also assured that the synchronization was causing a warm-up of the ties with Poland, and Warsaw was viewing the project in a more favorable light than before.

Vaičiūnas told BNS on Wednesday that the government would decide next week on the law to boycott electricity from unsafe power plants. The law is aimed at halting the construction of the Astravyets nuclear plant, which is built in Belarus some 50 km from Vilnius.