Latvian state company Latvijas Gāze (Latvian Gas) has resumed buying gas from Russia, Latvia’s public broadcaster LSM reported on Friday.
Over the last month, around one terawatt hour (TWh) of natural gas was pumped into Latvia from Russia, Aigars Kalvītis, head of Latvijas Gāze, has confirmed. According to him, the payments for the Russian gas are made in euros, not rubles.
Kalvītis said the gas is not being bought from the Russian state giant Gazprom but refused to reveal the name of the supplier citing “commercial information that we do not discuss in the public space”.
Latvia, like Lithuania and Estonia, stopped importing Russian gas at the beginning of April. However, the imports were resumed for a few days at the end of that month.
The Latvian parliament earlier this month adopted amendments to the Energy Law, banning natural gas imports from Russia from January 1, 2023. However, the law allows Latvijas Gāze to pump enough natural gas into Latvia’s Inčukalns underground gas storage facility until August 31, to ensure supplies throughout the winter.
No money from Lithuania
After Latvia decided to resume buying Russian gas, Lithuanian Deputy Energy Minister Albinas Zananavičius said that no money paid for gas by Lithuania is going to Russia.
However, he admitted that gas flows from different countries could be mixed in Latvia’s Inčukalns storage facility, where Lithuania also stores its winter gas stocks.
“It is not about the origin of the molecules, but about where the financial flows go,” Zananvičius told BNS. “The Inčukalns facility contains both Norwegian gas and gas from other sources. Of course, they mix. But the financial flows do not go from Lithuania [to Russia].”
According to the deputy minister, Lithuanian companies purchase gas only from domestic gas suppliers, which receive it through the Klaipėda LNG terminal.
“Since Lithuanian gas suppliers buy gas only from the terminal and certainly not from Russia, there is no such risk,” he said. “To our knowledge, there are no contracts with Latvian companies.”
In late June, Lithuania passed a law banning Russian natural gas imports except for gas transit via its territory to the Kaliningrad exclave. Lithuania has been importing no Russian gas since April.
According to Zananavičius, Lithuania was aware of Latvia’s intention to purchase Russian natural gas this year.
“We knew that they would buy [Russian gas]. So, there is no surprise for us here,” he said. “There is a law that bans Latvians from buying Russian gas from January 1, and, of course, Latvia will be dealing with the issue of where to get that gas.”
When asked how he views Latvia’s decision to buy gas from Russia in terms of values, Zananavičius said that he could not comment on a foreign country’s decisions.
“In the European bodies and discussions at the International Energy Agency, everyone agrees that it is better to prepare for the winter and to get through it safely, without causing serious social and economic consequences, and to continue to diversify,” he said.
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