OREANDA-NEWS. February 03, 2010. Eesti Energia’s subsidiary UAB Enefit has gained its first customer in Lithuania following the opening of the electricity market in that country on 1 January. The contract for the sale of electricity was signed with Lithuania’s leading real estate company, Hanner, reported the press-centre of Eesti Energia.

“As a part of Eesti Energia corporation Enefit is for us a guarantee of reliability. We also appreciate flexibility and openness of Enefit during the process of contract negotiations,” said the chairman of the Hanner management board, Arvydas Avulis.

“Our strategic objective is to hold a 5-10 per cent market share in both the Latvian and Lithuanian electricity market. Our share of the Latvian market is already 6 per cent, while in Lithuania we have started actively working toward our goal,” said Eesti Energia’s director of energy sales, Aivar Tihane. “The potential of the Lithuanian market is very great, and competition has been strong right from the beginning, unlike Latvia, where there are no serious players in the market besides Eesti Energia and Latvenergo,” added Tihane.

Eesti Energia has been on the Lithuanian market since 2007. To this point – in the conditions of the closed electricity market – the only customer was the Embassy of the Republic of Estonia in Lithuania and the primary activity was focused on analysis of the market situation and preparations for market opening.

In Latvia, the electricity market opened in May 2008; and in Lithuania, in January of this year.