Not only Lithuania: all Baltic countries refuse to import Russian gas
“From April 1. “Russian natural gas no longer enters Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania,” Uldis Barissas, CEO of Conexus Baltic Grid, told Latvian radio. According to him, the Baltic market is currently supplied from the gas reserves in the underground storage facility in Latvia.
On Saturday, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda invited another European country to follow Lithuania’s example.
“From this month – no Russian gas in Lithuania. A year ago, my state made decisions that today allow us to end energy ties with the aggressor without pain. If we can do it, so can the rest of Europe, ”Nausė announced on Twitter.
From this month, there will be no Russian gas in Lithuania 🇱🇹.
Many years ago, my country made decisions that today allow us to end energy ties with the aggressor without pain.
If we can do that, so can the rest of Europe!
– Gitanas Nausėda (@GitanasNauseda) 2022 April 2
According to the Lithuanian Ministry of Energy, the Lithuanian gas transmission system has been operating without Russian gas imports since the beginning of this month.
“We are the first European Union country among Gazprom’s supply countries to have secured independence from Russian gas supplies, and this is the result of a long-term consistent energy policy and timely infrastructure decisions,” said Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys on Saturday.
According to the report of the Lithuanian Ministry of Energy, this is confirmed by the data of the Lithuanian gas transmission system operator Amber Grid, which show that on April 2. Russian gas imports for Lithuania’s needs via the Lithuania-Belarus connection were equal to 0 MWh.
The gas demand of the whole of Lithuania is met through the Klaipėda liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal. The officially announced schedules of the liquefied natural gas terminal operators Klaipedos Nafta indicate that three large volumes of liquefied natural gas, which are planned to reach the terminal, will be enough for all customers every month. , gas can also be delivered to Lithuania via the gas connection with Latvia, and from May 1. – and via the gas interconnection with Poland.
In these circumstances, Russia’s requirement to pay for rubles in rubles is meaningless, as Lithuania no longer orders Russian gas and does not plan to pay for it.
In response, the Russian gas supply company Gazprom informed Amber Grid that it no longer intended to import gas from Russia via the Lithuanian-Belarusian connection.
Gas in transit through Lithuania continues to be transported for the needs of Karaliaucius, but in a different technical mode than usual, ensuring only the requirement of the amount of gas required for transit.
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