Russia has stopped supplying power to Lithuania due to, Russia’s news agency said, ‘inability’ for payment.
Lithuania’s electricity transmission system operator Litgrid confirmed the development on Sunday, according to rt.com.
Inter RAO, which was the only importer of electricity from Russia to Lithuania, confirmed the suspension of deliveries. Earlier this month, Inter RAO’s Nordic branch also stopped supplying electricity to Finland.
Lithuania’s Energy Ministry initially announced that it would stop buying Russian electricity on Friday.
“According to the decision of the electricity exchange operator Nord Pool, trading in electricity generated in Russia, which was carried out by Inter RAO (through its subsidiary Inter RAO Lietuva), is terminated” starting from May 22, the ministry said in a statement.
Following the shutdown of Russian supplies, Lithuania plans to meet electricity needs through local power plants and imports from other European countries –in particular Sweden, Poland and Latvia, Litgrid CEO Rokas Masiulis said on Friday.
According to the company, Russian imports accounted for 16 per cent of Lithuania’s electricity consumption.
Inter RAO confirmed the suspension of trading on Friday, according to TASS.
“Inter RAO has received notices from [exchange operator] Nord Pool about the suspension of trading by subsidiaries due to the risk of being unable to pay for Russian electricity,” the company told the agency.
Last month, Lithuania became the first EU state to scrap Russian gas imports, and it also refused to buy the country’s oil.