President of Latvia Egils Levits attended the launch of Poland-Lithuania gas pipeline in Lithuania today. In his speech, Egils Levits underlined that opening of Jauniūnai natural gas compression station is a major achievement for Lithuania, Poland and the whole Baltic region and Finland. ‘This is a historic day for whole of Europe. This gas pipeline strengthens Europe’s energy security. We have demonstrated that we are a reliable European growth region that can take care of its political, economic future and prosperity,’ President of Latvia underlined.
‘We support the need to strengthen our energy security and diversify energy supply sources. That is how we can ensure that Europe is safe and more protected against various unpredictable developments. As far as Russia is concerned, we know what it intends to achieve. It is not a country on which we can rely. That is why we need to ‘shake-off’ Russia’s controlling hand,’ President of Latvia pointed out with respect to current situation in the world.
Latvia is also looking forward to completion of other regional gas infrastructure projects in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland, said Egils Levits. According to him, Inčukalns underground gas storage facility, which is the largest storage infrastructure of this kind in the region, will continue to play important role in securing region’s energy independence in the coming years. ‘Inčukalns gas storage will play a big role in stocking up on gas when it is cheap and selling it when prices go up. Inčukalns gas storage facility is now strategically connected to the whole Europe through GIPL.’
Gas pipeline between Poland and Lithuania became operational on 1 May 2022. Its overall length is 508 km and gas will flow in both directions. New gas interconnector will effectively expand the European gas market and enhance energy independence of Baltic countries and Finland. The inauguration ceremony took place on 5 May. It was attended by President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda, President of Poland Andrzej Duda, President of Latvia Egils Levits, European Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson and other dignitaries.
