Hitachi, Lithuania to sign preliminary nuclear deal

VILNIUS Dec 21 (Reuters) - Japan's Hitachi is expected to sign a preliminary deal with Lithuania later this week on investing in a new nuclear plant in the Baltic state, officials said on Wednesday.

The document should define how big a stake Hitachi is willing to take in a plant that is to be built by 2020, people involved in the talks said.

Hitachi is also to provide one 1,300-megawatt ABWR reactor for the plant in alliance with U.S. General Electric.

"Today the government approved... the main principles of the concession agreement of Visaginas nuclear power plant...," the government said in a statement on Wednesday, without disclosing details.

The agreement would serve as a basis for Lithuania's negotiations with fellow Baltic states, Latvia and Estonia, on their share of participation.

An agreement between the shareholders and the strategic investor with the regional partners is expected to be concluded next year.

Poland, which plans to build its own nuclear plants, pulled out of the project earlier in December.

By law, Lithuania's government has to have at least 34 percent at the new plant, which is estimated to cost less than 5 billion euros ($6.52 billion).

Lithuania wants to build a nuclear power plant to cut energy dependence on Russia, the sole provider of natural gas.