Lithuania and Gazprom Talk After Court Case Dropped

Lithuania's leader, Algirdas Butkevicius, has had a working meeting with Alexey Miller, chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, on energy issues between the two parties.

Gazprom recently abandoned a court case against the Republic of Lithuania at an international court in Stockholm, Sweden. The case, to do with breach of contract, was dropped because the Russian gas giant made profit selling shares of Lithuanian company Kauno Termofikacijos Elektrine (KTE).

Russia is Lithuania's main source of natural gas, and last year Gazprom exported 3.3 billion cubic meters of Russian gas there. The two countries have long-term sales agreements up until 2015.

The recent meeting was held in St Petersburg, and according to a Gazprom statement, the participants “discussed the bilateral cooperation in the energy sector”.

“The parties agreed to enter into consultations aimed at reaching agreements on the whole range of cooperation issues by July 31, 2013,” the company added.

Gazprom holds a 37% stake in Lithuanian company Lietuvos Dujos, which deals with gas purchase, transmission and distribution in Lithuania as well as with Russian gas transit to the Kaliningrad Oblast.