Lithuania and Gazprom to negotiate on Lietuvos Dujos

Lithuania has announced that it is ready to continue negotiations with Gazprom on selling a 34-percent stake in Lietuvos Dujos, although the Russian gas holding had not submitted its application for a tender before February 28, 2003. Gazprom proposed to continue the negotiations and the tender commission has decided to postpone the final date of accepting bids until April 11, 2003, the Lithuanian government said in its official statement.

The German consortium of Ruhrgas and E.ON Energie purchased the same amount of shares for $36.81m last May.

The Lithuanian government, which owns a 58-percent block of shares in Lietuvos Dujos, believes that Gazprom should buy a 34-percent stake for a similar price.

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