KIAULES NUGARA, Lithuania — The first Soviet republic to reclaim its independence was Lithuania. But more than two decades later, the energy industry of this European Union member still feels like an outpost of a creaking empire run from Moscow.

Lithuania’s president, Dalia Grybauskaite, intends to change that.

This straight-talking politician, who holds a martial arts black belt, has enthusiastically backed a deal to anchor a ship near this tiny island and put it to work processing deliveries of liquefied natural gas into fuel for Lithuanian homes and businesses. That would break the stranglehold of Gazprom, the Russian government-controlled export monopoly that now supplies all of Lithuania’s gas.

The vessel’s name? “ ‘Independence,’ of course,” Ms. Grybauskaite said last week in an interview. She hopes the ship will process up to 60 percent of the gas Lithuania needs. “The name is absolutely proper — ideally proper,” she said briskly.

The price of natural gas in Lithuania was 15 percent higher than the European average last year, according to the European Commission. Only Bulgaria, where Gazprom has a near monopoly, paid more. Gazprom also has an ownership stake in Lithuania’s natural gas distribution network. Part of Lithuania’s electrical infrastructure is still controlled from Moscow, too, and it is not yet possible to connect the country to the European grid.