Russia's Gazprom cuts natural gas supplies to Finland

Gazprom Export has cut gas supplies to Finland under Gasum’s supply contract. Consequently, Gasum will supply natural gas to its customers from other sources, mainly through the a 2.6 bcm/year Balticconnector pipeline to Estonia, and its gas filling stations in the gas network area will continue in normal operation. Russia had recently threatened to take retaliatory measures after Finland expressed its intention of joining NATO. Earlier in May 2022, RAO Nordic, a subsidiary of the Russian energy supplier Inter RAO, suspended deliveries of electricity to Finland as from 14 May 2022, claiming that the country had not paid for previous deliveries.

Finnish gas imports are relatively stable since 2015, hovering around 2.5 bcm (2.6 bcm in 2020 and 2021, according to preliminary estimates). In 2020, Russia supplied 100% of Finland’s gas imports by pipeline. The Balticonnector pipeline between Inkoo and Paldiski (Estonia), which was commissioned in 2020, created an alternative supply route for the Finnish market and connected the country to the rest of the European Union.

In April 2022, Finland and Estonia agreed to prepare for Russian gas imports to stop and to cooperate to jointly lease a floating LNG import terminal. The proposed FSRU would be moored on the coast of southern Finland; if the port construction works have not been completed by the winter 2022-2023, it could be temporarily moored in Paldiski (Estonia) and export gas to Finland through the Balticconnector. Gasgrid Finland or the state of Finland would hold the majority of the ownership in the LNG terminal.