Inter RAO trader to suspend electricity imports to Finland on May 14 due to payment difficulties

MOSCOW. May 13 (Interfax) - RAO Nordic Oy, a member of the Inter RAO group and a leading importer of electricity from Russia to Nordic markets, is suspending imports of electricity to Finland.

"RAO Nordic Oy has been importing electricity from Russia to Finland and selling it to Nord Pool exchange for many years. Unfortunately, we are forced to note that for the volumes which have been sold on Nord Pool exchange since May 6, funds have not yet been credited to our bank account. This situation is exceptional and happened for the first time in over twenty years of our trading history," the company said in a press release.

"Unfortunately, in the current situation of lack of cash income, RAO Nordic is not able to make payments for the imported electricity from Russia. Therefore we are forced to suspend the electricity import starting from May 14," it said.

"We hope that the situation will improve soon and the electricity trade with Russia could resume," it said.

Finnish grid company Fingrid said in April that is would limit capacity in cross-border interconnections with Russia, reducing import capacity from 1,300 MW to 900 MW. "The decision is based on an assessment of risks to the power system in a changing international environment," Fingrid said.

The only electricity export-import operator in Russia is Inter RAO. Finland is the company's main export market. In 2021, Finland accounted for 8.2 billion kWh of Inter RAO's total exports of 21.77 billion kWh.