Lithuania’s plans to block electricity import from BelNPP dismissed as political statement

Lithuania’s plans to block electricity import from the Belarusian NPP are a political statement, Belarusian Deputy Energy Minister Mikhail Mikhadyuk said on the sidelines of the 61st session of the IAEA General Conference in Vienna on 19 September, BelTA has learned.

“This is nothing more but a political statement. In real life, it is the buyer who is right in the electricity market, as in any other. He buys the product that is better and cheaper. So we wait and see. Everything changes. I think the economic feasibility and consumers will regulate everything. These are all temporary things,” Mikhail Mikhadyuk said.

The deputy minister confirmed that Belarus intends to continue dialogue with Lithuania on the nuclear power plant. “We have repeatedly stated that we are prepared for dialogue at the level of technical specialists and experts. We have already answered all the questions that Lithuania had and are willing to continue dialogue. But, unfortunately, the other party does not hear us,” he added.

The Belarusian nuclear power plant is built using the Russian standard 3+ generation design AES-2006 near Ostrovets, Grodno Oblast. The first power-generating unit is scheduled for commissioning in 2019, with the second one to go online in 2020.