Lithuania and Sweden should negotiate ways to share electricity producers’ excess profits without the European Commission’s intervention, Asta Skaisgiryte, the Lithuanian president’s senior foreign policy adviser, has said.
“The European Commission could be involved, if necessary, but I don’t think we should do that. I think we should be able to reach a mutual agreement,” Skaisgiryte said on December 20. “I believe that our energy ministry will succeed in reaching a bilateral agreement.”
According to her, reaching an agreement with Sweden is “a pan-EU obligation”. The electricity flows from Sweden to Lithuania and the profits made by Swedish electricity producers can be verified, she said, adding that almost half of the electricity consumed in Lithuania was imported from Sweden.
Last week, Lithuanian Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys said Lithuania’s disagreement with Sweden over the sharing of electricity producers’ excess profits would probably require EC mediation.
In late September, EU energy ministers agreed on measures to help consumers reduce rising electricity prices. One of them is to redistribute the so-called excess profits of companies producing cheap wind, solar, waste, nuclear or hydropower by setting a price cap of 180 euros per MWh.
The regulation also said that Lithuania and Luxembourg, which also imported part of its electricity, could receive a share of the excess profits under bilateral agreements with electricity exporting countries. (LRT/Business World Magazine)