Latvijas Gaze not receiving natural gas from Russia - spokesperson
RIGA. May 4 (Interfax) - Latvijas Gaze is not currently receiving natural gas from Russia, Latvijas Gaze spokesperson Anastasia Petere told BNS.
The volumes of gas that the company plans to acquire in the future are a commercial secret, Petere said.
Natural gas system operator JSC Conexus Baltic Grid (Conexus) said in a statement on its website that Russian natural gas entered Latvia through the Luhamaa connection for the first time since the end of March on April 30. Russian gas also flowed into the country through the same connection on May 1 and May 2. April 30 saw 104,000 kilowatt-hours of gas, while May 1 and May 2 both saw 3.2 gigawatt-hours.
This is a small quantity of natural gas compared to March 31. The capacities of confirmed volumes varied from 24 GWh to 55 GWh per day in the second half of March.
Conexus said that it provides access to infrastructure for the transportation and storage of gas, which belongs to traders, as the unified gas transmission and storage system operator. In line with existing legislation, gas supplies from Russia are not currently prohibited, and the choice of gas supplier is up to traders.
An alternative supply route for natural gas, Gas Interconnection Poland-Lithuania (GIPL), was connected to the Baltic region on May 1, Conexus said. GIPL expands gas supply possibilities for the region, as it connects the Klaipeda LNG terminal and the Finnish-Estonian connection Balticconnector.
The Financial and Capital Market Commission (FCMC) told BNS when commenting on Latvijas Gaze's request for special permission to change payment arrangements with Gazprom that it does not issue special permissions for payments to companies, only financial institutions, the clients of which request payments to sanctioned entities in specific extraordinary circumstances.
Issuing such a decision is still more impossible if it requires transactions with a Russian financial institution not overseen by the FCMC.
Receipt of Russian gas is currently possible in line with the general position of the European Commission if it is received within the framework of an existing contract, the FCMC said. Other possibilities are not currently being considered, are impossible, and could be assessed as an attempt to circumvent sanctions.
Observing sanctions is the individual responsibility of every company, the FCMC said. Circumventing sanctions could substantially negatively impact the further operation and reputation of a company.
Latvijas Gaze requested special permission from the FCMC earlier to change payment arrangements with Gazprom.
Aigars Kalvitis, chairman of the Latvijas Gaze management board, said that the company currently has enough natural gas reserves to wait for more lucrative prices from a commercial point of view. It will resume purchases as soon as the situation on the market allows.
Latvijas Gaze has a long-term contract with Gazprom for the supply of natural gas from the year 2000 to 2030. According to the terms of the agreement, payments for natural gas supplies have been carried out in euros.