According to A. Butkevičius, the Swedish study on the integration of electricity networks in the EU is conducted on the order of the European Commission.
'It has been a year or more when the European Commission has made an order of a study about the integration of Baltic States into the common energy network of the EU. It is rather bizarre for me that some people have already forgotten about it. This order was made long time ago and we even discussed it at the Parliament. This is a normal process and there is no magic here', said Prime Minister.
When asked to specify whether this study will determine the final decision about the nuclear plant, A. Butkevičius replied negatively.
'No, this will show an important aspect if it is built as we need to know how we are going to get additional electricity and what networks will be used to transport it to the Baltic States' - he explained the goals of this Swedish study.
The Prime Minister also assured that when making a decision, the government will not rely solely on the public opinion either.
'Public opinion is important and we will look into that, however, I believe that other criteria will dominate as well so that we would avoid political populism' - explained A. Butkevičius.
The nuclear plant project's value is around 17 billion litas. The Lithuanian part will comprise around 6 billion litas. It is planned that the construction will start in 2015 and the nuclear plant will start operating in 2020-2021.
In December of 2011, Poland abandoned the project; however, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Japanese investor 'Hitachi' are still participating in the project.
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