With Finland finalising its decision for the NATO membership bid, Russia has reportedly stopped electricity exports to the country overnight on Friday, according to an official at Finland’s power grid operator.
RAO Nordic, the company responsible for Russian electricity sales to Finland, announced on Friday that it would stop deliveries on Saturday, citing issues with ‘unpaid bills’, although it is unclear whether this is related to European sanctions on Russia.
“This situation is exceptional, and it is the first time this has happened in over 20 years of our trading history,” the company said in a statement, adding that they hope the situation will be resolved soon.
Timo Kaukonen, an Operations Manager at Fingrid, the Finnish network operator, told AFP that exports from Russia to Finland “are at zero right now, and have been since midnight.”
Finland used to import about 10% of its total electricity consumption from its Russian neighbour.
The network is balanced thanks to imports from Sweden, according to the real-time map of Fingrid, which indicated on Friday that they would be able to survive without Russian electricity.