Williams would have the option to buy a controlling interest over the next five years. This would be a serious hardship for the government and was the cause of Paksas's resignation. The IMF and World Bank, noting that the government's debt had reached 5.8 percent of GDP, are worried that the Williams deal might drive that figure closer to 10 percent. An IMF team was scheduled to arrive in Vilnius at the end of October to negotiate the terms of Lithuania's latest stabilization loan. Paksas and a Vilnius-based IMF representative both expressed concern that the Williams deal might endanger the new loan agreement, and financial analysts warned that failure to secure the loan would increase the danger of a financial crisis.
Members also appear to believe that it is of great geostrategic importance.
In this they appear increasingly at odds with the public. Some observers believe the feuding over the sale indicates a change in attitudes toward Western investment. Apparent in the public is an increasing skepticism about the West, a reluctance to let national symbols such as Mazeikiai be sold off to foreigners, and less concern about dependence on Russia for energy. An opinion poll taken in early October also exposed a strain of reform fatigue. Slightly more than half the population rejected far-reaching economic reforms that would result in immediate hardship but bring significant gains over the long haul.