ANKARA
Finland has no reason to stop or freeze their agreements with Russia on natural gas, Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Sakari Tuomioja said Tuesday.
Toumioja's remarks came during a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Ankara.
When asked about whether Finland is thinking about revising their natural gas agreements with Russia due to the developments in Ukraine, Toumioja said there is no reason to stop any deals with Russia.
"Finland has been buying natural gas from Russia for more than 40 years, and we have never had any problems in its supply or transfer," he said.
In 1971, the two countries signed the first contract for the supply of up to 1.4 billion cubic meters per year. Actual gas volumes arrived to Finland in 1974. As of today, the country has received more than 114 billion cubic meters of gas, of which 3.54 billion cubic meters were delivered in 2013 alone, a statement in Gazprom Export's website says.
In May 2012, Gazprom Export and Finnish gas company, Gasum extended the March 1994 contract for gas supplies to Finland to Dec. 31, 2027.
Because of the sanctions imposed by western powers over Russia's stance in eastern Ukraine, and its annexation of the Crimean peninsula, the Finnish Foreign Minister said they will be "more comfortable", if they have alternative resources.
"In fact, we have just reached an agreement with Estonia to build two liquefied natural gas terminals," he said.
On Monday, Finland and Estonia reached a deal to build two LNG terminals to agree on a roadmap to improve the countries' gas infrastructure.
"The plans include the construction of a large-scale LNG terminal in Finland, which would then provide liquefied natural gas to users in the region at competitive prices. The Baltic connector pipeline would link gas markets in Finland and Estonia," said a statement on the Finnish government's website.
"I am very satisfied that we have reached agreement. With the implementation of the planned measures, Finland will become integrated into the European gas network and will be able to improve the country's gas-based energy security," said Finnish Prime Minister Alexander Stubb.
www.aa.com.tr/en
