Russia Supplier Cuts Off Electricity Deliveries to Finland Amid NATO Plans

Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP via Getty Images

A Russian energy supplier has halted electricity deliveries to Finland as the country is expected to announce that it’ll be joining NATO.

In what Forbes is calling an apparent retaliation to the NATO move, Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Finnish President Sauli Niinisto that a NATO application could potential harm the relationship between the two countries, because “there are no threats to Finland’s security.” Niinisto’s office, however, said that the president argued that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and NATO demands “altered the security environment of Finland.”

BREAKING: Russia has suspended electricity exports to Finland

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Russian power grid operator Inter RAO cut off its electricity supply to the country on Saturday via RAO Nordic, which Finnish transmission system operator Fingrid said made up 10 percent of that in the country, per The Hill. The operator in Russia claimed it was a result of it having a hard time receiving Finnish payments due to sanctions.

“The lack of electricity import from Russia will be compensated by importing more electricity from Sweden and by generating more electricity in Finland,” Reima Päivinen, senior vice president of power system operations at Fingrid, said.

RAO Nordic, on the other hand, said the “situation is exceptional and happened for the first time in over twenty years of our trading history.”

“Such a sudden announcement raises the question of whether the reason given by RAO Nordic is genuine,” said Jukka Leskelä, managing director of the Finnish Energy industry association, in conversation with Finnish broadcaster YLE.