As expected, the Russian state-owned company Gazprom turned off the gas tap to Finland on Saturday morning. That reports the Finnish gas wholesaler. Gasum refuses to obey the Kremlin’s demand to pay with rubles for Russian gas. Finland, which was 6 percent dependent on fuel from Russia, is now going to get gas from other countries via a pipeline connected to Estonia.
Russia is demanding that European countries pay for their gas in rubles from now on, even if it has been agreed in the contract that payment will be made in euros or dollars. Poland and Bulgaria were previously cut off from the gas. More European countries are likely to follow.
On Wednesday, Finland submitted a request to join NATO. That is considered a threat by Russia, which shares a border of more than 1,000 kilometers with Finland.
This article is also part of our live blog: Russia turns off the gas tap to Finland