EMEA News
EU May Fund Baltic LNG Terminal
Estonia and Finland are likely to decide on a site for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal within a few months and receive European Union (EU) funding for the project, Lithuanian Energy Minister Jaroslav Neverovic told Reuters.
The terminal would cost between €400 million ($515) and €500 million ($643 million), according to an EU study.
The EU had said it would fund the terminal, which would help reduce the dependence of the Baltic states and Finland on Russian gas imports, if the countries could reach an agreement on the project.
"Our Baltic and Finnish colleagues share the notion that it will be quite a blow to lose such an important part of infrastructure if there is no agreement between the two countries," Neverovic said.
Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said the deadline for reaching an agreement is the end of June.
"If we do not reach an agreement by the end of June, then the current funding allocation will pass," he said.
"The next opportunity for funding will be in 2016, but it may be that funding for this project will no longer be available."
Along with other uses of LNG in the region, officials are looking at the fuel for bunkering in the Baltic Sea.
