OREANDA-NEWS. July 22, 2009. Valdis Dombrovskis, Prime Minister of the Republic of Latvia, held a meeting with Dalia Grybauskaite, President of Lithuania. Latvia is the second country visited by the new Lithuanian President, and this was the first meeting of both officials, reported the Official website mk.gov.lv.

After this meeting they made a brief statement on the main subjects discussed. Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis said: „During the meeting with Dalia Grybauskaite we discussed bilateral economic cooperation, energy issues, opening of the Baltic energy market and Swedish-Baltic interconnection. Another focus was on the issues essential for Latvia and Estonia in the context of the European Union, including opportunities to postpone co-financing instalments into the European Social Fund in order to speed up administration of those EU funds in which the proportion of Latvia’s co-financing is lower. We also discussed a number of other issues.”

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite noted: „I know Valdis Dombrovskis quite well – we worked together as finance ministers, and we also cooperated in the European Parliament and European Commission. Today our meeting was very friendly and focused on cooperation. We shared the view that it is necessary to coordinate economic matters of both countries both with regard to cross-border flows of goods and commodities and to the taxation policies. My key objective is to consolidate cooperation of Nordic and Baltic countries concerning the economic policies of the EU.”

Dalia Grybauskaite expressed the following position: „Today there are many discussions about Latvia’s negotiations with the International Monetary Fund. Several years ago I gained valuable experience in negotiations with the IMF. If necessary, now, being the President of Lithuania, I could speak with the IMF Member States and its Board, as well as with the European Union. My experience could be useful.”

The main focus of the bilateral discussions was on the economic crisis by exchanging information on negotiations of Latvia with its international lenders and results achieved; the officials also discussed bilateral cooperation aimed at overcoming the crisis and in adopting economy-related decisions which could have impact on the whole Baltic region. To this end coordination of the taxation policies was admitted as an area of special importance in order to adverse impacts of tax differences on the development of both countries.

Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis emphasised that the formation of a common Baltic electricity market is a matter of high importance for Latvia. He stressed that Latvia’s priority is a functioning market in the Baltic States which implies opening of the Estonian market and actual market liberalisation in Lithuania. Along with market liberalisation measures Latvia would expect implementation of infrastructure projects and projects aimed at increasing the power of energy.

Concerning the electricity interconnection Project Valdis Dombrovskis acknowledged the Memorandum of Understanding signed by Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian energy companies in order to apply for financing from the European Economy Recovery Plan to used for the construction of this interconnection.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite informed about the progress with regard to the Visaginas Power Station Project and emphasised that the next Project assessment is scheduled for September which is necessary for further progress. Valdis Dombrovskis stressed that this project is important for the whole electricity market of the Baltic region. Cooperation of the countries involved is currently based on the Memorandum of Understanding signed in Trakai on 27 February 2006. It was signed by the prime ministers of the Baltic States agreeing on support to the construction of this new nuclear power station based on equality and the principle of consensus among the partners.