Lithuania Parliament passes law to block Russian gas imports

The amendments to the Law on Natural Gas were passed by the Parliament 123 to none with two abstaining.

The legislation will allow access to Lithuania's gas transmission system and its Klaipeda LNG terminal to suppliers from countries deemed to be a threat to national security. The ban will not apply to suppliers who transport gas via Lithuania to Kaliningrad.

The operator of the Klaipeda LNG terminal, in early March, suspended the acceptance of cargoes from Russia's Novatek after the EU imposed sanctions on Gennady Timchenko, a Russian oligarch who can be considered a controlling person of the Novatek GroupNovatek Group under EU law over the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine.

In April, Lithuania cut off imports of Russian gas in order to gain full independence from Gazprom and in response to Russia's energy blackmail in Europe and Ukraine.

Russian gas is currently transiting through Lithuania to Kaliningrad, but under a different technical regime, it is ensuring that only the volume of gas needed for transit is transported.