Taking on Gazprom: Lithuania's battle for energy independence

When it joined the EU in 2004, Lithuania was given one key task: closing down its nuclear plant in Ignalina.

The Soviet-era plant used the same technology as the one that exploded in Chernobyl, Ukraine in 1986 causing a human and environmental catastrophe.

Lithuania did as it was told. In 2009, it shut down the plant, even though it covered 77 percent of its electricity needs. The flipside was that its gas and electricity imports from Russia grew exponentially. Lithuania is curren...