Lithuanian increases power exports

Power exports by Lithuania's national power producer Lietuvos Energija (Lithuanian Energy) rose 10.3 per cent on the year to 7.5bn kWh in 2003, Rimantas Juozaitis, the company's director told on Tuesday. The company expects its net profit to stand at 90m litas ($33m) in 2003, Juozaitis said without providing comparisons. Last year, the company's main export markets were Belarus, which bought 4bn kWh of electric power, Russia's Kaliningrad Region, which bought 2.43bn kWh, Latvia, which bought 553m kWh, and Poland with 489.1m kWh. The company plans to shut down power unit one at the Ignalina nuclear power plant, the only (nuclear plant) in Lithuania, and thus expects its power exports to decrease 1.9 per cent this year. Lietuvos Energija's authorized capital stands at 689.5m litas. The government holds the controlling stake.