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Flag of Russia/File photo
Following the international sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, the Russian electricity exporter InterRAO lost the possibility of selling electricity to its customers in the Baltic countries from this Sunday.
“This is an important step on our path towards energy independence”, declared Lithuanian Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys told AFP on Sunday.
On Friday, the Nord Pool Energy Exchange sent a notice to InterRAO, warning that it had been banned from doing business in the Baltic states due to international sanctions.
For years, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have sought to achieve energy independence from Russia, increasing internal electricity production and building grid interconnections with neighboring countries. .
As a result, imports of electricity from Russia to Latvia and Lithuania, which were previously1,300 megawatt-hours per year, fell to 300 megawatt-hours last year and now they have stopped completely.
The last time Latvia imported Russia’s electricity was in early May, while Estonia and Lithuania stopped buying it from Moscow. this Sunday.
“By declining to import Russian energy resources, we refuse to finance the aggressor,” the Lithuanian minister.
Of all the electricity that Lithuania imported last year, 17% came from Russia.