Russia has announced that it is about to cut off electricity supply to Finland due to payment difficulties
The Russian company, RAW Nordic, said that it will suspend electricity supply to Finland starting next Saturday, justifying the decision due to problems related to the payment of its economic quotas.
The Russian company said it was not paid for the electricity it previously delivered to Finland.
This came a day after the Finnish president announced his support for his country’s application to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Last Thursday, Moscow threatened to take “escalation measures” after Finland announced that it plans to join NATO.
The company that operates the electricity grid in Finland said that Russia provides it with a small percentage, not exceeding 10 percent, of the country’s electricity needs, and that it will be able to provide this amount of electricity supply from alternative sources.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine raised concerns about the security of European energy supplies, amid calls for countries in the European region to end their dependence on Russian oil and gas.
There is a common border between Russia and Finland with a length of 1,300 km, and Finland avoids seeking to join NATO to provoke hostility with its eastern neighbor. But since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, there has been popular support in Finland for the idea of joining NATO.
Finland is expected to formally announce its plan to seek NATO membership. However, RA or Nordic have not explicitly linked their decision to cut off electricity supply to Finland with the decision to start a NATO membership bid.
“This situation is exceptional and occurred for the first time in more than 20 years in the history of our trade,” the Russian state-owned company said.
Neither the Russian company nor the Finnish power grid operator “Vingrid” explained what was behind the payment difficulties.
Russia cut off gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland last month after the two countries refused to pay for gas in Russian rubles, a change Moscow seeks to circumvent economic sanctions it has imposed since the start of its invasion of Ukraine.
Gazprom announced that it would stop pumping gas to the Polish part of the Yamal Europe gas pipeline.
Vingrid said he does not expect any shortfall in electricity supply as a result of the Russian outages, as these supplies cover only 10 percent of Finland’s electricity needs.
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The company that operates the power grid in Finland expects to increase wind power generation in the coming period
“The absence of electricity imports from Russia will be offset by increased imports from Sweden and higher electricity generation in Finland,” said Raima Bavenen, vice president of energy operations at Vengrid.
The Finnish company stated that energy demand is declining due to the hot weather that has prevailed in the country in the recent period, amid expectations of an increase in electricity generation from wind power in the coming period.
He also said a nuclear plant to generate electric power is expected to open and operate this summer, suggesting it could produce more electricity than supplies cut off by Russia.
This comes after the European Commission put forward the idea of completely phasing out European imports of Russian oil by the end of 2022, but the final decision on this is still pending due to Hungary’s refusal to join the boycott of Russian oil, fearing that this would lead to severe damage to its economy.
NATO expansion
Russia warned Finland and Sweden last month not to join NATO, saying the move would not bring stability to Europe.
“The alliance remains an instrument intended for confrontation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a statement issued about the two European neighbors’ warning to Moscow.
It came at a time when US defense officials said Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine was a “fatal strategic mistake” likely to lead to NATO expansion.
US administration officials expected Europe’s northern neighbors to apply for NATO membership, likely in June.
Washington is believed to support the move, which will increase the number of NATO members to 32. US State Department officials said last week that talks had taken place between NATO leaders and ministers. of Foreign Affairs in Helsinki and Stockholm.
european division
The European Commission announced last March that it would reduce its imports of Russian natural gas by two thirds in a year, but there is still a division within the European Union on the possibility of doing without imports of Russian natural gas.
Companies from European countries such as Germany, Hungary and Slovakia have agreed to pay for their natural gas supplies from Russia in euros to Gazprombank, which will convert the currency into rubles.
The British newspaper Financial Times said that gas companies in Austria and Italy plan to open an account with Gazprombank.
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There is popular support in Finland for the country’s application to join NATO since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The European Commission said that if Russian gas can be paid for in euros and the buyer obtains confirmation of payments before converting the currency to rubles, there will be no breach of sanctions.
However, there are differing views among European countries on how to interpret the initial directives, while European diplomats said they wanted more clarity on the issue.
Companies from European countries such as Germany, Hungary and Slovakia have agreed to pay for their natural gas supplies from Russia in euros to Gazprombank, which will convert the currency into rubles.
The British newspaper Financial Times said that gas companies in Austria and Italy plan to open an account with Gazprombank.
The European Commission said that if Russian gas can be paid for in euros and the buyer obtains confirmation of payments before converting the currency to rubles, there will be no breach of sanctions.
However, there are differing views among European countries on how to interpret the initial directives, while European diplomats said they wanted more clarity on the issue.
In contrast, the UK relies on Russian gas for just 5.00 percent of its needs, while the US imports no Russian gas.
Russia pumps natural gas to Europe through a large number of pipelines. The gas is collected in regional storage centers and then distributed throughout the European continent.