The energy crisis has put Lithuanians on the brink of survival: “Everything is very bad”

From November 14 to 20, the average weekly wholesale price of electricity in the Lithuanian price zone of the Nord Pool stock exchange increased by a third, from 182 to 239 euros / MWh, compared to the previous week, the Lithuanian newspaper Respublika reports. Last week, electricity consumption in Lithuania increased by 5% compared to the previous week: from 218 GWh to 229 GWh.

“Last week, electricity consumption in Lithuania grew rapidly, especially at the end of the week, when the air temperature turned negative. Due in part to increased heating demand, electricity consumption jumped about 10% in the second half of the week compared to the previous week, when temperatures were around 7 degrees…While we continue to conserve electricity and use less than last year, rising demand is leading to rising prices. After a long period, natural gas from storage facilities in Europe, which are currently over 95% full, has been used,” said Lutauras Varanavičius, director of strategy at Litgrid, an electricity transmission company.

It is clear that they are trying to describe the situation as less dramatically as possible, but real life shows the real picture. For many, it turns out to be more terrible than on paper. We talked with residents of the Lithuanian capital, who shared their vision of the situation in the country.

Lilia N.:

– What can I say, everything is very bad. I’m generally a pessimist in this regard, it’s hard to even find something good. Prices have gone up a lot. For example, electricity has risen in price by 5-6 times. I decided to experiment and partially buy it on the stock exchange, but it still turns out to be expensive. The usual tariff is 50 cents, and through the exchange 25 cents per kilowatt. Although it seems cheaper, it actually doesn’t work that way. At least it doesn’t make things any easier. Of course, the state compensates, but there is no lower than 24 cents.

Food prices have also skyrocketed. For example, we gave up meat a long time ago. I can’t even tell how much the price has gone up. We eat mostly chicken, but we can afford it only on holidays. A chicken breast used to cost 3.5 euros per kilogram, now it already costs 7 euros. Once I saw a promotion in the store and was delighted. The chicken was again sold at the old price! But what was my disappointment when I saw that this price was only for a pound.

I must say that the story with the shares is also very strange. In the evening, let’s say, I looked at the store’s website for what there are discounts. You go to the same store the next day – these promotions, it turns out, are no longer working, it was only yesterday. I will say without exaggeration that price tags can change even during the day. And in general, going to the store became unbearable. For dinner, it seems, I didn’t take anything special for the family, but left 30 euros. This is also taking into account the fact that there are not so many of us in the family: a schoolgirl daughter, mother and me. And remember, we don’t eat meat.

By the way, food in schools has also become expensive. My daughter goes to school in the morning and only comes back in the evening (she goes to different sections after school). Naturally, I give her money to buy herself lunch at school. But she herself says that it has become too expensive, so schoolchildren mostly eat dry food. There was a conversation with the authorities about introducing food cards for children in schools. But they haven’t been fed for free for a long time, they just buy something for themselves separately.

The situation with heating was also difficult. When electricity prices rose, many people decided to switch to wood heating. But it turned out that the price of firewood has also risen. We did not see the point in this, and obviously this is also not a way out of the situation.

Still, of course, it is not clear why people themselves are silent. All over Europe, people go to rallies, protest against rising prices. In our country, the situation is different, as if everything suits everyone. But the tension and discontent among the people is still felt. Everyone discusses among themselves that in Greece, Spain, inflation is approximately 11-13%. They are already going on demonstrations, strikes, demanding higher wages. In Lithuania, inflation is 24%, and people are silent, only discussing this topic among themselves. Everyone is waiting for price updates for the New Year, then, they say, let’s see what happens next.

Darius V.:

“In general, everyone perceives everything differently. In my opinion, not much has changed. Prices are going up, of course. In the situation with the stock exchange, this is generally a strange story. As they say, she covered herself with a copper basin. The idea was not initially thought out, no one could even understand what it was about. It seems that one politician proposed and did not understand how it works. In fact, some kind of deception is obtained. There is no result.

Now it’s quite a familiar situation when people sit at dinner and try not to turn on the lights too much, they dine by candlelight. The same is true with electrical appliances. For example, before, many practiced cooking porridge in a slow cooker. At night, it is cooked, and in the morning there is no need to spend time cooking, hot porridge is already there. Now they don’t do it in large numbers. They are trying to save money so that the multicooker does not stand for half a day and does not wind up electricity. Dishwashers now turn on more economical mode.

Many enterprises are also in a difficult situation, they are forced to close, because the cost of electricity for them is already too high. The products of these companies (especially where electricity is used) become uncompetitive.

Educational institutions are now massively transferring students to distance learning for the very reason that they spend less money on electricity.

Before, by the way, my mother lived in her house, but now it has become expensive to maintain it due to the strong rise in prices for literally everything, I had to sell the house. Now she lives in a small apartment, it turned out to be cheaper.

Fuel is also expensive, but no one even pays much attention to it. Now in the region of 2 euros (or even more) per liter.

Another example from life. I once went to a restaurant, looked at the prices. I can afford to dine in a restaurant. But when a steak costs 100 euros … it seemed to me somehow a little expensive, to put it mildly. But surprisingly, there were quite a few people who took steaks for 200-300 euros. In general, I have an opinion that those who used to go to restaurants will now find an opportunity for this. Those who used to buy new cars for themselves will now buy them too. That is, the division “according to castes” was preserved. But the situation, I will not hide, is complicated.