A Russian company has announced that it will cut off power to Finland

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BBC News World

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Russian electricity supplier RAO Nordic announced on Friday that it would suspend electricity supplies to Finland, citing tariff issues.

According to the company, he was not paid for his previous deliveries.

Finnish grid operator Fingrid said Russia supplies only a small percentage of the electricity consumed in the country and could replace it with other sources.

Thursday Russia has threatened to retaliate against Finland for its moves to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)..

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Scandinavian movement will severely damage its bilateral relations and the security and stability of Northern Europe.

Finland shares 1,300 km of border with Russia and is outside NATO so as not to cause hostility to its eastern neighbors.

However, since the Russian occupation of Ukraine in February, public support for the Nordic side to join NATO has increased.

Finland is also expected to officially announce its plans to join the military alliance on Sunday..

But RAO Nordic’s decision to cut off power supply is not explicitly linked to this.

“This is an exceptional situation and for the first time in 20 years of business history this is happening,” the Russian state-owned company said.

RAO Nordic or Fingrid did not explain what was behind the payment issues.

Russia last month cut off gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland, saying they were violating Western sanctions for refusing to comply with demands for a ruble.

This week the Russian state-owned company Gazprom announced that it would cut off gas supplies through the Polish section of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline.

Fingrid put forward this Friday that RAO Nordic’s decision was not expected to create cuts in the country. Only 10% of Finland’s electricity comes from Russia.

“The shortage of electricity imported from Russia will be offset by imports from Sweden and overproduction in Finland,” explained Reima Päivinen, vice president of power system operations at Fingrid.

On the other hand, as the spring progresses and the temperature rises, the demand for electricity decreases. More wind power is expected to be generated in large quantities.

The nuclear plant, which is expected to open this summer, will offset Russian supply losses, Fingrid added.

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