Finland loses main gas supply after refusing payment in rubles

Bloomberg

Russia is cutting Finland off from its natural gas supplies as relations between the two neighbours sour over the Nordic nation’s decision to join defense alliance Nato.
Finland is the third European country to lose gas from Russia after refusing to pay for the fuel in rubles. Flows on a main pipeline from the region’s top supplier were expected to stop , according to a filing by Finnish importer Gasum Oy. Poland and Bulgaria had their taps turned off last month for the same reason.
“Most in the market expect Finland to be the only buyer to have deliveries cut at this time,” but “the risk remains that buyers elsewhere could also suffer the same fate,” said Tom Marzec-Manser, head of gas analytics at ICIS in London, citing a recent poll of traders by the company.
The lost supplies will likely have a limited impact on the Nordic nation’s economy, with the fuel accounting for just about 5% of the energy mix.
It’s mainly used by factories rather than for heating like in many other European nations. The government has pushed for a fast exit from Russian fossil fuels.
“Gazprom Export informed Gasum that natural gas supplies to Finland under Gasum’s supply contract will be cut on Saturday,” the Finnish company said. “Gasum will supply natural gas to its customers from other sources through the Balticconnector pipeline.”
In the meantime, supplies continue to flow into Finland via the Balticconnector pipeline from Estonia, but its capacity may not be enough to meet demand.
That’s after a number of companies have already switched to other fuels or secured alternative supplies. For the coming winter, the government agreed on renting a floating LNG terminal together with Estonia.