The winner of an international tender to...

"By the middle of the year we will have the results," Kubilius said.

The statement was made as Kubilius held energy talks with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at a government residence near Moscow.

Lithuania plans to build a new nuclear power plant in Visaginas in the east of the country as a replacement for the much-disputed Ignalina plant.

The new plant, due to be built by 2018 as part of a $3-4 billion joint project with Poland, Estonia and Latvia, will have increased power.

The Ignalina plant"s first unit was closed in December 2004 and the plant was completely shut down in late 2009 as part of an agreement on the Baltic state"s accession to the EU, which took place in May 2004.

The Ignalina plant is of a similar design to the power plant that exploded in 1986 in Chernobyl, Ukraine. The Soviet-era Ignalina power station provided about 70% of Lithuania"s electricity.

In late February, Russia started the construction of the two-unit

Pages: [1] 2