Russia stops gas supplies to Finland amid payments row
PBC News: Russia stopped its supply of natural gas to Finland from Saturday (May 21) due to its non-payment in rubles, the Finnish state-owned energy firm Gasum has said.
After the EU and US sanctioned Russia over the war, Russia said “unfriendly” countries must pay for gas using the Russian currency, a move the EU considers blackmail.
Also, Finland and Sweden early this week applied to join western transatlantic military alliance, NATO.
On Sunday May 15, Russia cut electricity supplies to Finland after threatening retaliation should Finland apply to join Nato.
On Friday May 20, it was confirmed by Finland that its gas supplies have also been stopped.
Russian energy giant Gazprom delivered 1.49 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Finland in 2021, which accounted for two-thirds of the total gas consumption in the Nordic country.
Finland imports most of its gas from Russia but gas accounts for less than a tenth of the country’s energy consumption and Finland said it will not pay for its supplies in roubles.
The majority of gas used in Finland comes from Russia but gas only accounts for about 5% of its annual energy consumption.
