Coalition priority - superproject Skulte LNG Terminal

Secretly from the general public, the government has declared the liquefied gas project Skulte LNG Terminal represented by the American Peter Aloizs Ragauss as a priority of the Republic of Latvia. It is significant that it is the Americans who will assess whether this project, which is dangerous for Latvia, will be supported by the public funding instrument in the Three Seas Initiative.

There are so many things wrong with this project, and it will harm more than benefit the majority of Latvians. Firstly, a huge liquefied gas tanker will be anchored in the Vidzeme resort - near Saulkrasti and Skulte, and secondly, the gas pipeline will be created from it to the Inčukalns underground gas storage facility, crossing private properties whose owners do not want forced nationalization of their property. And, thirdly, all Latvians will have to buy gas from America through Latvenergo, which will be more expensive than conventional natural gas.

The business principle is the same as the existing mandatory procurement component OIK1. Citizens have to pay an artificially high price for so-called green energy, which is neither good nor green because it is mainly produced by burning natural gas. However, with the help of the OIK scheme, a handful of “green” business leaders will have siphoned almost four billion euros from the population by 2037. And they would not have been able to do so without the systematic support of previous governments and the existing coalition. The new OIK2 is also being built through political decisions. Among other things, in order to reduce the opportunities for residents and local governments to fight against the project, the configuration of Saulkrasti municipality was significantly changed during the administrative-territorial reform - so that the pipe from Skulte to Inčukalns would fit in one municipality.

Greetings from Rebenoks

“All this is produced by Bordāns and Kariņš. They operate as a single family with their own business interests dictated by oligarchs. They don’t care whether or not there is an emergency situation in the country, whether people are dying or getting sick. The main thing for them is to keep OIK and implement the OIK-2 project,” said Pāvels Rebenoks, a lawyer and adviser to the newly dismissed Minister of Economy Ralfs Nemiro, in an interview with Neatkarīgā in the spring.

On September 20, the lawyer was beaten to death with a wooden board. And it is one of the publicly announced unofficial versions that Rebenoks was killed because he knew too much and talked too much about OIK. Threatened the users of the scheme. At the time of the interview, the lawyer explained why his political protege had been revoked access to the state secret. Another two billion euros have not been collected in the existing OIK scheme, and Nemiro has also hindered the new joint project - the implementation of the OIK2 scheme. This explanation is also relevant in the context of Rebenoks' own death. (It should be emphasized here that the only version officially put forward and made public by the State Police is that Rebenoks was killed to steal his pretty cufflinks and expensive watches. And no one believes this version.) Now the new project has less hindrances. One is dead, the other is sitting in the Saeima without any special influence on the progress of the OIK2 project. And it turns out the project is really moving forward.

Said too much in the foreign affairs debate

This week, at the joint sitting of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the European Affairs Committee in the Saeima, the annual report of the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the accomplished and planned activities in the country's foreign policy and European Union issues was considered. There will also be a big parliamentary debate on this, but already at the commission meeting there was a special interest in the gas superproject.

It turns out that the Skulte terminal has now become an internationally positioned object of Latvian national interest.

Gatis Eglītis, a deputy from the New Conservative Party (Jaunā konservatīvā partija), spoke about it at the sitting. It is very good that Latvia has invested in the Three Seas initiative, but now we have to take the next step and start thinking about how to help create the Skulte LNG terminal with the necessary permits and land acquisition process.

Because at some point the “Amber fund” will come and ask if you will help us to advance this project. "It is some food for thought, maybe one day we will have to think about it," Eglītis said, and Minister for Foreign Affairs Edgars Rinkēvičs replied in the affirmative: "We are aware of this issue." The project has been submitted to the fund and will probably receive support: "We now need to reach a common understanding in the government of how ready we are to work on it."

What is that Three Seas Initiative

Here would be a good place to explain what the Three Seas Initiative is and what it has to do with the Americans. It is basically a political international business instrument. The three seas mentioned in its name are the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea. Twelve countries on their shores have agreed on a joint initiative to promote infrastructure projects in the transport, energy and digitization sectors in the Central and Eastern European region. Latvia is also participating in the Three Seas Initiative with a 20 million investment through the Development Finance Institution ALTUM. The Americans have no geographical connection to these three seas, but they are entrusted with the management of the fund. In particular, the fund's investment manager is Amber Infrastructure. And as for the Skulte terminal, it seems that the Americans will now decide on the American project. The Three Seas Fund will not give the money in the form of grants, but will lend on a commercial basis. This is also the answer to the question where the American Peter A. Ragauss is going to get money for the construction of the terminal and gas pipeline. First, it would be built with the money of Latvia and other member states invested in the Three Seas Initiative Investment Fund, but then it would be operated with the money of the Latvian population, filling the pockets of the project owners and probably also their political supporters. A fine plan.

LNG has no place in Latvia's energy sector

At the above-mentioned joint sitting of the Saeima commissions, the former Minister Ralfs Nemiro also spoke about the American gas superproject. Here is his opinion: “LNG has no place in Latvia's energy sector. If we look at the green goals we want to achieve, 2050 is a time when gas as such ceases to exist, as Europe moves on the green path. The construction of the LNG terminal should be assessed on the basis of economic principles. I think this question is very simple. If a market-based LNG terminal is needed in the region, it can be done. But if we look at the overall plan that is being implemented for interconnections, it is very likely that this LNG terminal is simply absurd. In addition, let us not be naive: it is much cheaper to bring liquefied gas from a Russian port than to transport it from the United States.

Of course, this issue can be talked about and debated, but let’s not forget the main point, it must be market-based, and I do not think that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should be involved in land expropriation assistance, including in the framework of the Three Seas Initiative.

The project lobbyists - American Peter A. Ragauss, the New Conservative Party and the Unity Party (Vienotība) - obviously have the opposite opinion.