A Russian company that imports electricity to Finland has announced a delivery stop at short notice. As the Helsinki-based company Rao Nordic announced on Friday, from Saturday no more electricity can flow from Russia to the Scandinavian country.
The background is therefore allegedly a missed payment. The company said that no money had yet been received for the quantities of electricity sold in May. “We are therefore forced to stop importing electricity from May 14,” the statement said.
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According to Rao Nordic, it is one of the leading importers of Russian electricity to the Nordic countries and belongs to Inter Rao, Russia’s largest energy group in the import-export business.
The delivery stop comes almost at the same time as an expected decision by the Social Democrats in Finland about the country’s possible NATO membership. Prime Minister Sanna Marin’s party plans to decide on its stance on a contribution proposal for the military alliance on Saturday.
Marin and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö have already expressed their support for accession. Should the party agree with this opinion, a large majority in the Finnish parliament would emerge in favor of accession.
Moscow had already announced that it would “reply appropriately” to Finland’s possible NATO membership. There was therefore already speculation about an energy supply stop. It wasn’t immediately clear whether there was a connection.
For Inter Rao, Finland is the most important export market. In 2021, 8.2 billion kilowatt hours of electrical energy were sold there – out of a total of 21.77 billion kilowatt hours sold abroad.
