EU – Baltic States, Gas, Gas Market , Markets and Companies

He informed that yesterday, May 11, the Finnish government passed a highly important decision for the gas sector, supporting a legislative initiative aimed at deregulation, moving away from monopolies and opening the Finnish gas market in 2020 when the Interconnector between Estonia and Finland (BalticConnector) has to be completed.

Rajala said that Finland’s gas sector will be brought in compliance with the EU’s requirements by 2020.

The ministry representative also admitted that declining gas consumption in Finland, just like in the Baltic countries, represented a major challenge, but that gas will still have its place in the overall energy supply system.

The Latvian Economics Ministry deputy state secretary Janis Patmalnieks welcomed Finland’s legislative initiative, stressing its significance and potential for the creation of the regional gas market.

Organized by the European Commission and the Ministry of Economics of Latvia, the conference in Riga has brought together experts from the European Commission, the Baltic states and Finland, as well as representatives of large natural gas companies to debate the creation of a single regional gas market.

The regional gas market will become fully operational after construction of the Gas Interconnection Poland-Lithuania (scheduled for completion in 2021) and the Interconnector between Estonia and Finland (BalticConnector, scheduled for completion in 2020) is finished.