VILNIUS, Feb 23 The three Baltic states and Poland have agreed in principle to build a nu

VILNIUS, Feb 23 (Reuters) The three Baltic states and Poland have agreed in principle to build a nuclear power plant in Lithuania by 2015 to ease their energy dependence on Russia, Lithuanian leaders said today.

''There is an agreement between Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland to secure energy independence building more than one nuclear reactor,'' President Valdas Adamkus told visiting foreign journalists.

Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas said separately a final deal to build the plant was expected to be signed by mid-2008, with a tender to supply the reactors due by early 2009.

''Lithuania would have a 34 per cent participation in the project, and we have offered our partners 22 per cent each,'' he said.

Kirkilas said Lithuania was also interested in attracting Sweden and the Czech Republic to the project. It was in talks with the European Investment Bank, the EU financing arm, and several commercial lenders on securing financing, he said.

The three Baltic states initially said they would build an 800-1,600 megawatt plant for 2.5-4 billion euros ($3.3-5.2 billion).

However, it is now expected that the plant's capacity will be increased to 3,200 megawatts, bringing the cost to five to six billion euros, after Poland said it wanted to join the project.

Poland was invited as part of a package deal after Warsaw agreed to build an ''electricity bridge'' that would link the power grids of both countries, Lithuanian officials said.

French state-run nuclear group Areva was expected to be a strong contender to equip the plant, Kirkilas said. General Electric of the United States has also stated an interest in supplying the reactors.

The nuclear plant will be built near an existing one in Ignalina, eastern Lithuania, which supplies more than 70 per cent of the country's electricity.

The Ignalina plant, which uses Soviet-built reactors of the same type that caused the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, is to be closed in 2009 because of safety concerns.

REUTERS BDP BD1859