The Russian energy company has confirmed the suspension of its gas deliveries to Finland, while Helsinki has refused to settle it in rubles, as demanded by the Kremlin.

Russian energy company Gazprom announced on Saturday that it has suspended all gas deliveries to Finland after Helsinki refused to pay for it in rubles.

Gazprom has not received payment in rubles from Finnish state energy company Gasum by the May 20 deadline, saying it has “completely stopped its gas deliveries”, the Russian group said in a press release.

8% of the energy consumed in Finland

After the start of Russian military operations in Ukraine on 24 February and the imposition of Western sanctions, on 31 March Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that Russian gas buyers from “unfriendly” countries be deducted from accounts in Russia on pain of deprivation. make payment. Compensated.

The list of “unfriendly countries” published in early March includes the United States, members of the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Switzerland, Taiwan, South Korea, Norway, etc., and Australia. European Union states are the main consumers of Russian gas. “From April 1, payment for gas must be made in rubles using a new bank statement, which the partners were informed about in due course,” Gazprom said.

The Russian conglomerate says it has supplied 1.49 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Finland in 2021, or two-thirds of the country’s consumption. Natural gas, however, represents only 8% of the energy consumed in Finland and the Nordic country has indicated that it is relying on other sources of supply. In late April, Gazprom suspended all its gas deliveries to Bulgaria and Poland, assuring that these two EU countries had not made any payments in rubles.