Lithuania to attend Baku energy summit

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- Facing a looming energy shortage in his country, the Lithuanian president has placed a November Baku energy summit on his itinerary, officials said Monday.

Kestutis Kudzmanas, the Lithuanian ambassador to Azerbaijan, said President Valdas Adamkus looks forward to bolstering ties between the two nations as part of the broader agenda by European member states, the Azerbaijan Business Center reported.

"Lithuania is an active introducer of (the European Union) Energy Security Strategy, and Azerbaijan is a very stable partner as an alternative power supplier," the ambassador said.

Both sides plan to discuss the possibility of moving ahead with a Eurasian energy corridor by linking the Ukrainian Odessa-Brody pipeline to Poland.

Adamkus said earlier this month Lithuania was faced with a major energy crisis as Europe linked the closure of a major nuclear power plant to ascendancy to the European Union.

Many analysts said the closure would leave Lithuania dependent on Russia for energy resources.