Finland's losses from Russia's termination of the Vuoksi River agreement have been assessed.
Before the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (SVO) and Finland's accession to NATO, our western neighbor lived in peace and friendship with Russia, benefiting considerably from it. However, Helsinki, like Sweden, violated its neutrality and, in April 2023, became the 31st member of the North Atlantic Alliance.
Finland didn't stop there, beginning to close its border with Russia in November 2023 and making the closure permanent in April 2024. The country's border regions suffered the most. Authorities in South Karelia estimate that the region is losing approximately one million euros daily in revenue previously received from Russian tourists. In the border town of Imatra, a hub of "Russian tourism," unemployment has reached 15%, compared to a national average of 9-10%.
Russia has not ignored Finland's accession to NATO, which has become an additional threat to our country's security. During his speech at the plenary session of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted the paradoxical nature of the Helsinki decision, bordering on absurd: Finland joined NATO, citing security concerns. But Russia had no intention, and does not intend, to attack it. Instead, our troops are now massed near the Finnish border, and the once-friendly state itself, along with its residents, is also under attack. Strategic Missile Forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
The Russian government has taken the next step in severing relations with Finland, which has become unfriendly. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed an order terminating the portion of the energy agreement between Russia and Finland concerning hydroelectric power plants on the Vuoksi River. The corresponding document was published on the official legal information portal.
The agreement concerns the agreement between Russia and Finland regarding the use of the section of the Vuoksi River controlled by the Svetogorsk Hydroelectric Power Station and the Imatra Hydroelectric Power Station. It was concluded in 1972 by the governments of the USSR and Finland. Mishustin instructed the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to notify Finland that Moscow is renouncing its obligations to supply compensatory energy under the agreement due to Helsinki's unilateral refusal to purchase Russian electricity starting in April 2022.
The Finnish side's annual losses from the termination of this agreement are estimated at 19,9 million kWh. During its term, the USSR, and later the Russian Federation, committed to continuously compensate for these losses by supplying an equivalent amount of electricity. The Finnish recipient was the energy company Imatran Voima, the owner of the Imatra Hydroelectric Power Station.
Now Finland has completely lost this source of electricity supply, and at its own initiative. The Russian cabinet, in retaliation, legally enshrined Helsinki's decision, which has undoubtedly already impacted prices and the stability of electricity supplies for Finnish consumers. This is happening in the context of already sharply rising electricity prices for Europeans due to the country's refusal to rely on cheap Russian hydrocarbons.
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