As Finland prepares to announce its candidacy for NATO, Russia has decided to suspend its power deliveries to the Nordic country. But Helsinki claims to be able to do without it. The tap is cut from this Saturday, May 14.
It was the Helsinki-based supplier who announced it this Friday in a press release. He maintains that he has not received any payment for a little over a week. A first, he says, for 20 years.
” This situation is exceptional “, insists the group. ” We hope the situation will improve soon. and that deliveries from Russia will resume.
He does not specify whether or not these problems are linked to European sanctions targeting Moscow, since this supplier, RAO Nordic Oy, is 100% owned by a Russian company, InterRAO.
In any case, there will be no more delivery from midnight. A scenario for which the operator of the Finnish electricity network says it has prepared.
” A little less than 10% of the current consumed actually comes from Russia “says the latter, thinking he can compensate with a little more imports from Sweden and Norway, the two neighboring countries, and with his national production.
” It won’t be difficult “, declared this Friday Timo Kaukonen, a person in charge of the operations of the operator of the Finnish network, Fingrid.
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The capacity for importing Russian electricity to Finland had already been reduced in April, he recalls, from 1,300 to 900 megawatts, for ” safeguard the safety of the electrical system ” in a context ” developments in the international situation “.
Russia takes a dim view of Finland’s desire to join NATO. The President and the Finnish government voted on Thursday for membership without delay. Candidacy which could officially be filed as early as Sunday.
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With agencies