The Baltic countries no longer use Russian natural gas, said the head of the Latvian gas network Conexus Baltic Gridin managing director Uldis Bariss on saturday. Bariss told Latvian radio that no gas had been imported from Russia to Latvia, Estonia or Lithuania since the beginning of April.
Finland belongs to the common gas market area with Estonia and Latvia, which means that there are no price tariffs for gas transportation between the countries. The gas market of the three countries has four gas connections to Russia, of which the link in Imatra is reportedly the only one currently in use.
The Lithuanian Ministry of Energy also said on Saturday that it would import gas through the LNG terminal in Klaipėda. In addition, according to the ministry, gas imports will also be possible via a link built through Poland from the beginning of May
The President of Lithuania Gitan Nauseda urged other countries on Twitter to follow suit.
“If we can do this, the rest of Europe will be able to do the same,” Nausėda wrote.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced this week that he would demand that European gas purchases be paid in rubles in the future. Several European countries have refused to do so.