VILNIUS, May 29. /ITAR-TASS/. Lithuania’s Lietuvos Dujos has agreed with Gazprom on a lower gas price, the Lithuanian energy company said on Thursday.

“The import price of gas has been lowered,” the Lithuanian company said, without specifying the cost of natural gas supplies to the republic.

The price of Russian natural gas for the Baltic States averaged $425.9 per 1,000 cubic meters in the first quarter of 2014.

Lithuania has repeatedly demanded a review of Russian gas prices. Gazprom has a 37.1% stake in Lietuvos Dujos.

Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius said on Thursday the price of natural gas for Lithuanian consumers would fall by 20%.

“We have managed to fulfill the task that we have set and achieve a competitive price for gas supplies,” Butkevicius said.

The Lithuanian State Commission for Energy Prices and Control approved on Thursday a new tariff, which will come into force from July 1 and will be in effect until late 2014. The gas price reduction for various consumer categories will range from 14.6% to 22.8%, depending on the amount of gas consumption.

The new maximum tariff is 2.28 litas (€0.66) per cubic meter and the minimum is 1.42 litas (€0.41).

The new rates reflect an agreement reached between Lietuvos Dujos and Gazprom. Lithuania, which depends on Russian natural gas supplies, had insisted on a “fair price,” saying it was paying about $500 per 1,000 cubic meters, almost the highest gas price in Europe.

The local media reported that Lithuania’s new purchase price will be $370 per 1,000 cu m.

Lietuvo Dujos is the importer of Russian natural gas into the republic. The company is also Lithuania’s largest gas distributor. In 2013, Russia exported 2.7 billion cu m of natural gas to Lithuania.