Russia cuts electricity supply to Finland amid Helsinki’s bid to join NATO

Europe, News May 16, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

Russia suspended electricity supply to Finland on May 14, as tensions rise between the countries over Helsinki’s bid to join NATO.

RAO Nordic, a subsidiary of Russia’s state-owned energy company, released a statement notifying that starting from May 14, the company would be forced to suspend the electricity imports to Finland due to nonpayment of dues. The statement added that the company had not received the required payments since May 6.

“RAO Nordic is not able to make payments for the imported electricity from Russia,” the statement said. “Since the 6th of May funds have not yet been credited to our bank account. This situation is exceptional and happened for the first time in over 20 years of our trading history,” it said. The company also stated that it hopes for a resumption of operation ‘soon’ in the future without defining any specific date for the end of the suspension.

Russian electricity accounts for about 10 percent of Finland’s total consumption. Finland’s Senior Vice President Reima Paivinen stated that Finland does not need to worry about the electricity shortage as the state transmission system operator Fingrid was already expecting a suspension of power supply from Russia and made all mandatory arrangements to counter the shortfall.

The issue of falling behind payments surfaced after RAO Nordic required all its payments to be made in the Russian ruble. The spokesperson of the European power exchange company Nord Pool stated, “We have never had settlements in Rouble, only in Euros, Norwegian crowns, Swedish crowns, and Danish crowns, in line with our standard procedures.”

A few days after RAO Nordic released its statement for electricity suspension, Finland and Sweden’s leaders declared that their nations must apply for NATO membership “without a delay”, a move that Kremlin does not approve. The timing of the two events makes it clear that the suspension of electricity supply to Finland is linked with its decision to join NATO.

Kremlin has warned Helsinki and Stockholm that Russia would their membership of NATO as an open threat and Moscow would be “forced to take reciprocal steps, military-technical and other, to address the resulting threats.”

*^{Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin speaks during a press conference in Tokyo on May 11, 2022. (Image Credit: Franck Robichon/AP)}*

NATO’s top leadership, on the other hand, has a welcoming response for Finland and Sweden into the alliance. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited Sweden and Finland in a single day to sign a security pact with the two Scandinavian countries on May 11.

U.S. President Joe Biden also had phone calls with Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson of Sweden and President Sauli Niinistö of Finland on May 13, to discuss the close defense and security cooperation as well as our respective efforts aimed at strengthening Transatlantic security. He also underscored that NATO’s open-door policy would welcome the countries into the alliance.