Following the international sanctions imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, Russian electricity exporter InterRAO has lost the ability to sell electricity to these customers in the Baltic countries since Sunday.
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“This is an important step on our road to energy independence,” Lithuanian Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys told AFP on Sunday.
On Friday, the Nord Pool energy exchange sent a notice to InterRAO saying it was banned from trading in the Baltic States following international sanctions.
Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have been striving for energy independence from Moscow for years by increasing domestic power generation and building grid connections with Scandinavia and other neighboring countries.
As a result, electricity imports from Russia to Latvia and Lithuania, which previously amounted to 1,300 megawatt hours per year, fell to 300 megawatt hours last year and have now come to a complete standstill.
Latvia imported its last Russian electricity in early May, while Lithuania and Estonia stopped buying it on Sunday.
“By refusing to import Russian energy resources, we are refusing to finance the attacker,” the Lithuanian minister said.
Russian electricity accounted for 17% of electricity imports to Lithuania last year.