Russia will suspend its electricity deliveries to Finland from Saturday, due to unpaid bills, announced this Friday, May 13 the supplier RAO Nordic Oy, 100% owned by the Russian company InterRAO.

The operator of the Finnish electricity grid has assured that it can do without electricity imports from Russia. "We were prepared for that and it won't be difficult. We can manage with a little more imports from Sweden and Norway," Timo Kaukonen, an operations manager at operator Fingrid, told AFP on Friday.

Turkey threatens to prevent Finland and Sweden from joining NATO

This announcement comes against the backdrop of rising tensions between Moscow and Helsinki, which announced its willingness to join NATO "without delay" under the influence of the Russian offensive in Ukraine. An intention seen with a very bad eye by Moscow which has already threatened a "military-technique ».La diplomatie russe a affirmé pour sa part que la Russie sera « obligée de prendre des mesures réciproques, militaro-techniques et autres, afin de mettre fin aux menaces à sa sécurité nationale », en cas d’adhésion de la Finlande. 

Helsinki-based RAO Nordic Oy has not received payment for electricity supplied to Finland since May 6, the group said in a statement, citing a lack of means to pay for electricity imported from Russia. "This situation is exceptional and is taking place for the first time in more than 20 years," the statement said.

"We are therefore obliged to suspend the import of electricity from 14 May," explains the supplier. "We hope that the situation will soon improve" and deliveries from Russia will resume, the group adds.

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Principal importateur d’électricité de Russie vers les marchés nordiques, RAO Nordic a des activités dans l’Union européenne depuis 2002.