The loan will be used for the financing of the recently-completed 63.7-million-euro second gas transmission pipeline between Klaipeda and Kursenai, in the northern part of the country, and can be disbursed in installments over a period of one year, the state-owned company said.
The pipeline was launched in early October, opening up the possibility of supplying gas from the Klaipeda liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal to Estonia and Latvia, expanding gas exports and ensuring stable gas supply to consumers in Lithuania.
Lithuanian Energy Minister Rokas Masiulis then said that the pipeline would make it possible to supply gas not only to the other Baltic countries, but also to Belarus and Poland in the future.
It was said that the new pipeline, which is 110 kilometers in length and 80 centimeters in diameter, would allow transporting 80 percent of the Baltic countries' gas needs from the LNG terminal.
From Kursenai, the pipeline goes further north to Latvia's Incukalns underground gas storage facility, in which Litgas, the gas trade arm of Lietuvos Energija (Lithuanian Energy), plans to store gas.
The Lithuanian government has granted Amber Grid's pipeline project the status of an economic project of national importance. The pipeline was built by Alvora, Kauno Dujotiekio Statyba and Siauliu Dujotiekio Statyba.
