Riga - European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said Monday that a decision on whether the so-called Swedlink power cable joining Sweden and the Baltic states would go to Latvia or Lithuania could only be made after expert reports are delivered in July.

Speaking before delivering a presentation at an EU energy conference in the Latvian capital, Riga, Piebalgs told the German Press Service dpa that the route could not be finalized until technical reports have been submitted.

"Then we will know what they will suggest. It is an investment decision, not a political decision," he said.

The European Union has allocated 175 million euros (240 million dollars) for the construction of Swedlink, provided construction begins by 2010, with an estimated completion date of 2016.

Piebalgs said that there would be no delay in implementing the project once a decision had been made.

"We could start immediately, even now, if the project was prepared, because the money for the interconnection will be available only for the remainder of this year," he said.

Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis had talks with Piebalgs Monday and will have another opportunity to broach the subject of Latvia and Lithuania's competing claims on the 350-kilometre cable project again on Wednesday when he meets with Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius in Vilnius.

The electricity systems bequeathed to the Baltics by 50 years of Soviet occupation which ended in 1991 have hindered attempts at full energy integration.

A cable from Estonia to Finland called Estlink is the only major connection joining the Baltics to the Nordic grid. (dpa)