The republic's authorities asked the Russian gas monopolist for a 15 percent discount on gas. Negotiators will also have to resolve thorny issues about the Kauno energija power plant and the gas distribution company Lietuvos dujos. Lithuania has little chance of receiving benefits, market experts say.

The Lithuanian authorities are demanding a discount on gas from Gazprom. Negotiators from Vilnius want to receive a discount of 15% - the same as that of Latvia and Estonia. But these countries have promised to increase gas consumption, and Lithuania is satisfied with the current level. In addition, Gazprom has a conflict with Kauno energija.

A Lithuanian company is demanding €1.5 from a Gazprom-controlled power plant in Kaunas for failure to comply with investment agreements. It is the Kaunas Thermal Power Plant that can become a bargaining chip in the negotiations between the parties on gas, says Sergei Chizhov, President of the Russian Gas Union.

“It belongs to Gazprom, but it produces electricity at tariffs at which Lithuania does not purchase it,” he explained. “Based on this, they can simply propose a situation where gas tariffs can be reduced, but the state will subsidize electricity tariffs."

There is a weighty argument on Vilnius’s side – Lithuania has found another supplier instead of Gazprom. A few days ago, the country announced that it would purchase liquefied gas from the Americans. The US offers a price one third lower than Russia. However, the head of the analytical research department of the investment company Univer Capital, Dmitry Alexandrov, is confident that the Lithuanians are playing a non-existent trump card.

“It is necessary to prepare the entire infrastructure for receiving liquefied gas, and the question is how they will do this. Because the problem is that there, in the depths of the coastal Baltic, not any gas carrier will pass freely. Also, the fairways there are narrow. Preparation will be needed fairway, I’m not sure that the game will be worth the price, given the volume of consumption,” he said.

Russia and Lithuania have another long-running dispute – over the gas distribution company Lietuvos dujos. It is 37% owned by Gazprom and 17% owned by the Lithuanian government. Vilnius wants to split the company into two parts to separate sales and transportation functions, as required by the EU's Third Energy Package. Gazprom opposes the European energy package as a whole.

Lithuania asks Gazprom to become a discounter