Latvia, which is totally dependent on gas supplies from Russia, aims to ensure that suppliers other than Gazprom can have an access to its pipeline system from next April, the country's economy minister said on Friday. Latvia has been the slowest of the three Baltic states to move forward with gas market liberalisation, trying to avoid confrontation with Gazprom, its sole gas supplier and 34 percent owner of its national gas company Latvijas Gaze.

This week, the country's economy ministry submitted draft amendments to ensure that alternative suppliers, including those of liquefied natural gas (LNG), will have free access to the transportation system. "We have to make sure that our gas system is ready for the third party access, for the eventuality of LNG (suppliers) requesting access to our system," Latvia's Economy Minister Daniels Pavluts told Reuters in a telephone interview.

So far, Latvia has no alternative supply routes, but neighbouring Lithuania is building a floating LNG import terminal and expects the first shipments in early 2015. The European Commission is also expected to decide whether a bigger, regional LNG terminal has to be build in Finland or Estonia, north of Latvia. Both Lithuania and Estonia keep gas at Latvia's Incukalns gas storage, one of the biggest in Europe, which also supplies gas to north-western Russia during winter time.

Latvijas Gaze has an exclusive right to use the 2.3 billion cubic metres (bcm) capacity gas storage facility until 2017, according to the privatisation deal. Germany's E.ON owns 47.2 percent of Latvijas Gaze, and Itera Latvija SIA 16 percent. Pavluts said he expected the amendments to be approved by the parliament early next year at the latest for them to come into force by April.

The proposed amendments will only require Latvijas Gaze to "internally" separate distribution and transportation systems, the minister said, but will not mean the gas system's unbundling. "This is obviously a step forward regarding the eventual unbundling, but the government hasn't made any final decision yet on the actual unbundling options, so this doesn't imply full unbundling yet." EU laws provide three options for countries to separate their vertically integrated gas companies to make sure the dominant suppliers are not hindering competition.