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OSLO – Russia’s Gazprom on Saturday cut off gas exports to neighboring Finland, the Finnish gas system operator said, the latest escalation in a power-sharing dispute with the West.
Gazprom Exports has claimed that European countries will pay for the supply of Russian gas in rubles due to sanctions imposed on Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, but Finland has refused to do so.
“Gas imports through the Ematra entry point have been stopped,” Gasgrid Finland said in a statement.
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Imatra is the gateway to Russian gas in Finland.
Gasum, a Finnish state-owned gas wholesaler, said on Friday that Gazprom had warned that the flow would be cut off from 0400 GMT on Saturday morning.
Gasum confirmed on Saturday that the flow had stopped.
“Natural gas supplies to Finland have been cut off under the Gasum supply agreement,” it said in a statement.
“Starting today, in the coming summer season, Gasum will supply its customers with natural gas from other sources through the Baltic connecting pipeline.”
The Balticconnector connects Finland to the gas grid of neighboring Estonia.
Most of the gas used in Finland comes from Russia, but gas accounts for about 5% of its annual energy consumption.
Most European supply agreements are marked in euros or dollars, and Moscow has already cut off gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland because they have refused to comply with the new payment terms. (Reporting by Terje Solswick, editing by Goladis Fuchs)