Russia To Stop Gas Supply To Finland After Electricity Cut
Helsinki: Finland’s state-owned gas company Gasum has announced that imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Finland from Russia’s Gazprom Export would end on Saturday morning.
Gazprom Export has informed Gasum that natural gas supplies to Finland under Gasum’s supply contract will be halted at 7 a.m. on Saturday (May 21, 2022), said the Finnish energy company on Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.
Therefore, Gasum will continue supplying natural gas to its customers the Balticconnector pipeline. The company’s gas filling stations in the gas network area will continue to operate normally.
Mika Wiljanen, CEO of Gasum, said the situation was “highly regrettable”.
Earlier on Tuesday, Gasum had announced that it was refusing to pay Gazprom Export in rubles, as the Russian company had requested at the beginning of April. Therefore, Gazprom Export notified Gasum that the gas supply would end.
Although the use of natural gas amounts only to five per cent of the Finnish energy mix, the sudden cessation of its supply from Russia will have economic and consumer repercussions until alternative systems are deployed.
Pia Oesch, Energy sector Director from the National Energy Supply Agency (HVK), said the capacity of the Balticconnector is sufficient to meet Finland’s needs during the summer.
However, this situation may change in the autumn if the crisis continues, Oesch added.
