Baltic States Halt Russian Natural Gas Imports... "Replacing with Stored Natural Gas"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, the three Baltic states, have stopped importing Russian natural gas, major foreign media including AFP and DPA reported on the 2nd (local time).

According to the reports, the three Baltic states no longer import Russian natural gas, said Conexus Baltic Grid, a Latvian natural gas storage company. The company's representative stated on Latvian Radio, "From April 1, Russian natural gas will no longer enter Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania." He explained that currently, natural gas stored underground in Latvia is being supplied to the Baltic market.

Gitanas Naus?da, President of Lithuania, announced on Twitter, "From this month, Lithuania will no longer use Russian natural gas." He said, "Years ago, Lithuania made the decision to completely replace Russian energy imports, and finally, we can cut energy trade with the aggressor without pain."

Dainius Kreivys, Minister of Energy of Lithuania, emphasized in a statement, "We are the first EU country to become independent from natural gas supplied by the Russian state-owned gas company Gazprom," adding, "This was made possible thanks to consistent energy policies over many years and timely infrastructure development."

Following this import suspension, Lithuania plans to meet its domestic gas demand through liquefied natural gas (LNG) arriving at the terminal in the port city of Klaip?da.

Previously, Lithuania started operating the terminal in early 2015 to reduce dependence on Russian gas imports and plans to import large volumes of LNG three times a month going forward.

Until now, Lithuania's annual imports of oil, gas, and electricity from Russia amounted to about $3.3 billion (4 trillion KRW). However, since Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the Lithuanian parliament has urged the government to stop importing and consuming Russian energy as soon as possible.