The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    Hybe's new boy group Boynextdoor aims to be 'one and only' presence in K-pop

  • 3

    Brave Girls to restart activities under new name

  • 5

    Rapper Mino attends sister's wedding in U.S. amid military service

  • 7

    BTS' J-Hope to work as drill instructor at Army boot camp: sources

  • 9

    Korea to ease immigration rules to attract more medical tourists

  • 11

    Actors' off-screen chemistry enthralls fans

  • 13

    Anti-corruption watchdog set to investigate crypto assets of lawmakers

  • 15

    Rude cabbies in Seoul face stricter penalties

  • 17

    'Elemental' director on bringing his personal story of immigration to cinema

  • 19

    Pyongyang may have delayed spy satellite launch due to technical issues

  • 2

    Seoul city erroneously sends emergency alert after NK launch

  • 4

    NK's attempt to launch 1st spy satellite fails after 'abnormal' flight: S. Korean military

  • 6

    Seoul City takes flak for bungled emergency text alert on NK's rocket launch

  • 8

    Running convenience stores becomes popular among people in 20s, 30s

  • 10

    Big businesses face growing union pressure to extend retirement age

  • 12

    Sluggish exports behind weak Korean won

  • 14

    Naver suffers shrinking online search market share

  • 16

    Seoul resident clashes with authorities for raising dogs to nab 'North Korean spies'

  • 18

    Doctors, pharmacists to receive 30% bonus for offering telemedicine service

  • 20

    NATIONALKorea likely to face pressure over imports of Fukushima seafood

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
Thu, June 1, 2023 | 21:10
Russia cuts off gas exports to Finland in symbolic move
Posted : 2022-05-21 22:36
Updated : 2022-05-21 15:46
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link
                                                                                                 A sign of the Finnish state-owned energy company Gasum in Helsinki Finland, May 21. Gasum said May 20 that Russian state-owned energy corporation Gazprom had informed that flows of natural gas would be halted. Gazprom confirmed exports to Finland were halted May 21 after Helsinki refused to pay for its supplies in rubles. Halting gas supplies comes as Finland and Sweden are applying for NATO membership after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. EPA-Yonhap
A sign of the Finnish state-owned energy company Gasum in Helsinki Finland, May 21. Gasum said May 20 that Russian state-owned energy corporation Gazprom had informed that flows of natural gas would be halted. Gazprom confirmed exports to Finland were halted May 21 after Helsinki refused to pay for its supplies in rubles. Halting gas supplies comes as Finland and Sweden are applying for NATO membership after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. EPA-Yonhap

Russia halted gas exports to neighboring Finland, Saturday, a highly symbolic move that came just days after the Nordic country announced it wanted to join NATO and marked a likely end to Finland's nearly 50 years of importing natural gas from Russia. The measure taken by the Russian energy giant Gazprom was in line with an earlier announcement following Helsinki's refusal to pay for the gas in rubles after Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded European countries to do after Russia invaded Ukraine, Feb. 24.

Russia halted gas exports to neighboring Finland, Saturday, a highly symbolic move that came just days after the Nordic country announced it wanted to join NATO and marked a likely end to Finland's nearly 50 years of importing natural gas from Russia.

The measure taken by the Russian energy giant Gazprom was in line with an earlier announcement following Helsinki's refusal to pay for the gas in rubles as Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded European countries do since Russia invaded Ukraine, Feb. 24.

The Finnish state-owned gas company Gasum said that "atural gas supplies to Finland under Gasum's supply contract have been cut off" by Russia on Saturday morning at 7 a.m. local time (0400 GMT).

The announcement follows Moscow's decision to cut off electricity exports to Finland earlier this month and an earlier decision by the Finnish state-controlled oil company Neste to replace imports of Russian crude oil with crude oil from elsewhere.

After decades of energy cooperation that was seen as beneficial for both Helsinki ― particularly in the case of inexpensive Russian crude oil ― and Moscow, Finland's energy ties with Russia are now all but gone.

Such a break was easier for Finland than it will be for other European Union nations. Natural gas accounts for just some 5 percent of total energy consumption in Finland, a country of 5.5 million. Almost all of that gas comes from Russia, and is used mainly by industrial and other companies with only an estimated 4,000 households relying on gas heating.

Gasum said it would now supply natural gas to its customers from other sources through the undersea Balticconnector gas pipeline running between Finland and Estonia and connecting the Finnish and Baltic gas grids.

Matti Vanhanen, the former Finnish prime minister and current speaker of Parliament, said the effect of Moscow's decision to cut off gas after nearly 50 years since the first deliveries from the Soviet Union began is above all symbolic.

In an interview Saturday with the Finnish public broadcaster YLE, Vanhanen said the decision marks an end of "a hugely important period between Finland, the Soviet Union and Russia, not only in energy terms but symbolically."

"That pipeline is unlikely to ever open again," Vanhanen told YLE, referring to the two parallel Russia-Finland natural gas pipelines that were launched in 1974.

The first connections from Finland's power grid to the Soviet transmission system were also constructed in the 1970s, allowing electricity imports to Finland in case additional capacity was needed.

Vanhanen didn't see Moscow's gas stoppage as a retaliatory step from Russia to Finland's bid to join NATO but rather a countermove to Western sanctions imposed on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine.

"Russia did the same thing with Finland it has done earlier with some other countries to maintain its own credibility," Vanhanen said, referring to the Kremlin's demands to buy its gas in rubles.

Finland shares a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) with Russia, the longest of any of the EU's 27 members, and has a conflict-ridden history with its huge eastern neighbor.

After losing two wars to Soviet Union, in World War II, Finland opted for neutrality with stable and pragmatic political and economic ties with Moscow. Large-scale energy cooperation, also including nuclear power, between the two countries was one of the most visible signs of friendly bilateral ties between former enemies. (AP)
 
wooribank
Top 10 Stories
1Seoul City takes flak for bungled emergency text alert on NK's rocket launch Seoul City takes flak for bungled emergency text alert on NK's rocket launch
2Rude cabbies in Seoul face stricter penaltiesRude cabbies in Seoul face stricter penalties
3In-N-Out Burger pop-up store attracts record crowd In-N-Out Burger pop-up store attracts record crowd
4[INTERVIEW] Asia expected to be key driver of ESG growth: Deloitte ESG Partner INTERVIEWAsia expected to be key driver of ESG growth: Deloitte ESG Partner
5Committee calls for lowering requirements for foreigners to teach English online Committee calls for lowering requirements for foreigners to teach English online
6Chinese account for 54% of foreign-owned homes in Korea Chinese account for 54% of foreign-owned homes in Korea
7Retailers adopt generative AI to offer personalized products, services Retailers adopt generative AI to offer personalized products, services
8North Korea's spy satellite launch fails as rocket falls into sea North Korea's spy satellite launch fails as rocket falls into sea
9AMCHAM stresses S. Korea-US ties after NK fires 'space launch vehicle' AMCHAM stresses S. Korea-US ties after NK fires 'space launch vehicle'
10Mercedes-Benz Korea appoints new CEO Mercedes-Benz Korea appoints new CEO
Top 5 Entertainment News
1[INTERVIEW] Lee Jun-hyuk unrecognizable in 'The Roundup: No Way Out' INTERVIEWLee Jun-hyuk unrecognizable in 'The Roundup: No Way Out'
2From hardcore action to heart-throbbing romance, series to hit in June From hardcore action to heart-throbbing romance, series to hit in June
3'Elemental' director on bringing his personal story of immigration to cinema 'Elemental' director on bringing his personal story of immigration to cinema
4SHINee celebrates 15th anniversary of debut: 'It feels surreal' SHINee celebrates 15th anniversary of debut: 'It feels surreal'
5ENHYPEN reaches new career high with latest album 'Dark Blood' ENHYPEN reaches new career high with latest album 'Dark Blood'
DARKROOM
  • Turkey-Syria earthquake

    Turkey-Syria earthquake

  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group