Baltic states lead push to cut Russia gas reliance

From:  AP 

By DAVID McHUGH and LIUDAS DAPKUS , Associated Press

 

Apr. 25, 2014 10:03 AM ET

 

VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) — Later this year, a ship the size of an aircraft carrier will arrive at Lithuania's port of Klaipeda on the Baltic Sea. The 300-meter (984-foot) vessel is not a warship, but a floating natural gas import terminal — aptly named "Independence" — that will be key to the Baltic region's plan to reduce its reliance on Russia's energy supplies.

Uncredited

This Jan. 26, 2014 photo provided by Hoegh LNG on Tuesday, April 22, 2014 shows Hoegh's gas vessel 'Independence' during her sea trial. Later this year, the giant ship will slide up to Lithuania’s Baltic port of Klaipeda. The 390-meter (1,300 foot) vessel is bigger than the largest aircraft carrier, but it’s not a warship. The floating natural gas terminal will play a key role in the Baltic region’s struggle to lessen its energy dependence on Russia. 

 

(AP Photo/Hoegh LNG)

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The countries in this northeastern corner of the European Union are among the most dependent on Russia to keep their homes warm and industries running. The three Baltic nations of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania get all their gas from Russia and lack connections to the wider European pipeline system that would allow them to import from elsewhere. Poland meets 70 percent of its energy needs with Russian supplies.

As a result, the states, which still have fresh memories of domination by Moscow during the Cold War, have been among the swiftest countries in Europe to act to reduce that dependence.

Moscow's use of gas supplies as a means of putting pressure on Ukraine — like the Baltics, once part of the Soviet Union — has driven new urgency into projects to diversify energy supplies in the region, even as the full 28-member EU has struggled to come up with a united approach.  MORE