Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė (right) visited the soon-to-be-closed Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant on Tuesday.

VILNIUS — The Lithuanian government has issued a tender for the building of a nuclear power plant, which the president wants to start being construction within the next three to four years.

The government announced its search in the Official Journal of the European Union. Lithuania is looking for an experienced foreign investor to purchase a majority stake in the new plant, which is planned to provide power to Lithuania and its Baltic neighbors Latvia and Estonia. Projections estimate that it will be completed in ten years.

This plant will replace the current nuclear power plant in Ignalina, which is closing by December 31 this year. The European Union stipulated in 2004 that, in order to join the EU, Lithuania must close the Soviet-era plant by the end of this year because of its similarity to the Chernobyl reactor, although the reactor was an updated model.

The tender invitation is open until Jan. 29, 2010. Energy companies like Germany’s E.ON and RWE, France’s EDF, Spain’s Iberdrola, Finland’s Fortum, and Sweden’s Vattenfall are expected to take part in the tender. The Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian governments are also expected to partially finance the plant.

Energy minister Arvydas Sekmokas told Lithuanian Radio on Tuesday that he expects to narrow the competition down to two soon. “According to the contest requirements, after going through all its stages, we could hold parallel negotiations with the two presenting the best offers,” he said.

On Wednesday President Dalia Grybauskaitė announced during a meeting with President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy, that Lithuania will seek funds from the EU for the plant.

“The most important thing for us is that the new economic conception covers energy independence and energy connections between the Baltic region and Europe,” Grybauskaitė said. “This means that Lithuania will continue asking that the EU’s financial perspective envisages funds for the post-closure maintenance of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant and for the construction of electricity connections with Western Europe.”

The cost of the new nuclear reactor is expected to be between €6 billion and €15 billion.