For quite a long time Gazprom demonstrated indifference to the shale or liquefied natural gas (LNG), but today situation has changed, and Lithuania should be concerned about the internal and international aspect behind these changes.

During the Upcoming Eastern Partnership Summit at Vilnius, the EU Should Provide Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine with an Official Membership Perspective

„The island of stability in the midst of crisis“, Russian officials have recently said about the economy of their country. Russia managed to accumulate reserve funds due to high energy prices; gas and oil have become an integral part of politics. But was this beneficial for Russian economy?

The discussion about diversification of natural gas supply for the Baltic States needs to be widened. Alternatives are worth to be considered despite the principal decision of the European Commission to build a regional LNG re-gasification terminal into one of the EU member coastal states of the Gulf of Finland. Alternatives are the floating LNG re-gasification terminal in Lithuania and competing fuels. This article is trying to answer the question: Is the building of a regional LNG terminal economically viable?

Wind energy

The first wind turbine in Lithuania was built in 1991 but due to technical problems it hasn’t been functioning for quite a long time. It was decided then that wind power is not sufficient for an effective power plant in Lithuania. Pursuant to the survey of 1994-1996, the Lithuanian coastal zone has considerable potential for wind power: the average wind speed here is 6,4 m/s.

Belarus has long time ago become one of the major Lithuanian policy priorities. The country is economically relevant and at the same time politically problematic partner. Importance of Belarus is determined by the dependence of the Klaipėda Seaport on Belarusian cargo transit; last year it accounted for 30,5 percent of the total cargo operations (handling). Yet, Alexander Lukashenko‘s regime which is still considered to be the last Europe‘s dictatorship hampers the improvement of the dialogue between the countries.   

"Berlin and Brussels are struggling against the attempts of" Gazprom " for increasing its influence on the most important markets in Western Europe pursuing to get out of its own crisis in this way," - writes Markus Balser in the Süddeutsche Zeitung. According to Alexander Medvedev, Vice-President of "Gazprom", the company remains a "Cinderella", yet wished to be a princess.

Latvia is concerned about the situation around the Russian non-profit organizations that are subject to extensive background checks by Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation in connection with the law "On foreign agents", stated the Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkevich.

The Lithuanian State Nuclear Power Safety Inspectorate (VATESI) issued on 28 May a permit for the state enterprise Ignalinos atominė elektrinė (Ignalina nuclear power plant) for starting industrial storage of low level radioactive contamination waste in a special repository that is built on the site of the closed Ignalina nuclear power plant, reported to IA REGNUM correspondents at the plant.

From 3 to 14 June the NATO military exercises SaberStrike 2013 will be held. About 500 armed foreign troops are expected. Then a pause, while in autumn a new exercise - SteadfastJazz - where nearly 600 soldiers and officers from outside Latvia are involved.

The Baltic countries have jeopardized the multi-billion dollar project of Russian nuclear scientists

The Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite attended the European Council meeting held in Brussels.

According to the representative of the Russian opposition Leonid Gozman, Russia may not like the Baltic States and be an uncomfortable neighbour for Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, however is inoffensive for them, because it has finally accepted the fact of their independence.