Russia cuts power supply to Finland due to "payment problems" and without mentioning NATO

Fingrid, the company that manages the electricity grid in Finland, in a statement, that the electricity imported from Russia accounts for about 10% of the total consumption of the Nordic country, so the supply is not threatened by this decision.

The Russian energy company Inter RAO, through its subsidiary RAO Nordic Oy, suspended the supply of electricity to Finland during the early hours of Saturday morning.

The Russian company cited "problems in receiving payments for electricity sold" as the main reason for the measure, rather than the Finnish government's decision to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinistö that the Nordic country's renunciation of neutrality to join NATO would be a "wrong" decision.

Putin stressed that the "renunciation of the traditional policy of military neutrality would be wrong, as there is no threat to Finland's security."

In this regard, RAO Nordic Oy had warned on Friday that it was "forced to suspend the import of electricity as of May 14.

"RAO Nordic Oy has been importing electricity from Russia to Finland and selling it to the Nord Pool exchange for many years," while adding that sales made since May 6 have not yet been credited with funds in their bank account.

"We hope that the situation will improve soon and that electricity trading with Russia can be resumed," the Russian company's subsidiary added.

As Fingrid, the company that manages the electricity grid in Finland, explained in a statement that electricity imported from Russia accounts for about 10% of the Nordic country's total consumption, so the supply is not threatened by this decision.

"The missing imports can be replaced in the electricity market by importing more electricity from Sweden and partly also through domestic production," Reima Päivinen, vice president of operations at Fingrid, said in the statement.

Inter RAO is the only electricity export and import operator in Russia, and its main customer has historically been Finland.