Russia To Stop Gas Supply To Finland On Saturday Morning

• Finland becomes the third EU country to see gas supplies from Russia halted.
• Finland gets up to 70 percent of the gas it uses from Russia.
• Gas makes up a relatively small part of the Finnish total energy mix.

Finland will become the third EU member state to see its Russian gas supply halted after refusing to pay in rubles for gas, as Gazprom will cut deliveries on the morning of May 21.

“On the afternoon of Friday May 20, Gazprom Export informed Gasum that natural gas supplies to Finland under Gasum’s supply contract will be cut on Saturday May 21, 2022 at 07.00,” Gasum, the state-owned energy provider in Finland, said in a statement on Friday.

Finland gets up to 70 percent of the gas it uses from Russia, although gas doesn’t have a large share in the overall energy mix and accounts for 5 percent of total energy consumption.

Starting from Saturday, Gasum will supply natural gas to its customers from other sources through the Balticconnector pipeline. Gasum’s gas filling stations in the gas network area will continue normal operations, the company said.

The firm warned earlier this week that Russian could cut off the natural gas supply to Finland late on Friday or early Saturday. Gasum said on Tuesday that it refuses to accept Gazprom’s demand to pay in rubles for gas instead of euros as stipulated in the gas supply contract. Gazprom has also made other claims on Gasum regarding the supply contract, the Finnish company said, adding that it is taking the supply contract with Gazprom to arbitration.

Finland has been bracing for being cut off from Russian gas since Gazprom stopped gas deliveries to Poland and Bulgaria at the end of April. Moreover, Finland—together with its Scandinavian neighbor Sweden—formally applied on Wednesday to join NATO. Russia has warned both countries against applying to become NATO members.

Meanwhile, transmission network company Gasgrid Finland Oy and US-based Excelerate Energy on Friday signed a ten-year lease agreement for the LNG terminal ship Exemplar to ensure sufficient gas supply in Finland, the Finnish government said today.

“We have launched a number of measures to improve our security of supply, including the supply of natural gas. The LNG terminal will make it possible for us to break free from Russian gas,” said Minister of Finance Annika Saarikko.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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