Finland plans to ban imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) from next year, Finland’s Environment and Climate Minister Kai Mikkanen told the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper on January 5.
Fossil fuel profits make up a significant portion of Russia’s economy and help finance its war against Ukraine. Mikkanen announced in November that Finland aims to ban Russian LNG but is awaiting a new package of European Union gas market laws.
On December 8, the EU reached an agreement that allows each country to effectively ban LNG shipments from Russia.
The EU has not imposed sanctions on Russian LNG, and EU countries have purchased Russian LNG. record amount LNG will be supplied from Russia in 2023.
One problem is that some European companies have long-term contracts with Russian companies and would have to pay compensation to Russia to stop imports.
Therefore, a new EU proposal would allow Russian and Belarusian companies to be banned from purchasing capacity in European gas pipelines and LNG terminals, allowing European energy companies to buy Russian suppliers without paying cancellation fees. will be able to withdraw from the contract.
Some countries, including the UK, Latvia and Lithuania, have already suspended LNG purchases from Russia. Mikkanen said the EU ruling made it easier to ban imports into Finland.
“I don’t want to commit to a specific date, but I hope that the situation will be such that the ban will come into effect next year,” Mikkanen said.
According to Helsingin Sanomat, Russia supplied around 16 million tons of LNG to Europe last year.
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