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Lithuania joins Polish complaint to EU over Opal pipeline

Xinhua, April 6, 2017 Adjust font size:

Lithuania joined Poland in its complaint against the European Commission for granting Russian energy giant Gazprom permission to increase the use of its Opal pipeline, a land extension of the Nord Stream pipeline, Lithuania's energy ministry revealed on Thursday.

The Lithuanian government approved the decision to join the Polish court case at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to fight the Commission's decision regarding rights to use the Opal pipeline, a branch of the Nord Stream pipeline in Germany, ministry officials told news agency BNS.

The Commission's decision gave the green light for Gazprom to use 80 percent of Opal's capacity.

The Polish government filed a complaint to the ECJ against the Commission's in December. Poland claims the Commission's decision strengthens Gazprom's positions.

The Lithuanian energy ministry said Lithuania wanted competition in the European gas market to increase, and that the decisions of the Commission "increases energy reliance on Gazprom".

"Moreover, this might entail negative consequences for Ukraine, since it will reduce gas transit through that country," Aurelija Vernickaite, spokesperson for the Lithuanian energy minister, told BNS.

Nord Stream is an offshore gas pipeline that connects Russia and Germany through the Baltic Sea, bypassing Poland and Lithuania.

Up until 2015, when Lithuania started operating its first liquefied natural gas terminal, the Baltic state was fully dependent on natural gas supplies provided by Gazprom. Endit