Lithuania is inviting investors to bid for a new nuclear power plant to cut down the country’s dependence on energy imports from Russia.

Lithuania wants to replace the Soviet-made Ignalina facility, which was shut in December to comply with pre-accession commitments to the European Union, according to Bloomberg.

The country, which imports almost 50% of its electricity supplies, wants to complete the atomic power plant in Visaginas between 2018 and 2020.

The selected bidders will make binding offers by November 2010, while the government wants to have a partner to build the project selected by the end of the year.