EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger, on a visit to Vilnius, does not rule out that the European Union might consider helping Lithuania to buy shares in the gas transmission system operator Amber Grid from Russia's Gazprom and Germany's E.ON as part of the implementation of the Third Energy Package.

"In working out the budget program for the Connecting Europe Facility from 2014 to 2020, we have co-financing possibilities. We hope that this budget will be approved by the end of the year and we will thus have a co-financing instrument," he told reporters in Vilnius on Friday when asked if Lithuania could expect the EU's financial support in taking full control of the gas transmission pipelines.

Some sources say that it was a diplomatic answer in which the EU commissioner did not rule out helping Lithuania to buy Gazprom's and E. ON's stakes in Amber Grid.

Oettinger said that such an instrument would be helpful to countries where market financing was not sufficient.

"We expect to discuss these issues with member states by the end of the year," he said.  MORE