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Baltic States Stop Russian Gas Imports

View of the Pipeline Inspection Gauge (PIG) receiving station, the Nord Stream 2 part of the landfall area in Lubmin on Germany’s Baltic Sea coast, taken on September 21, 2021. John MacDougall, AFP
View of the Pipeline Inspection Gauge (PIG) receiving station, the Nord Stream 2 part of the landfall area in Lubmin on Germany’s Baltic Sea coast, taken on September 21, 2021. John MacDougall, AFP
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Baltic States Stop Russian Gas Imports

View of the Pipeline Inspection Gauge (PIG) receiving station, the Nord Stream 2 part of the landfall area in Lubmin on Germany’s Baltic Sea coast, taken on September 21, 2021. John MacDougall, AFP
View of the Pipeline Inspection Gauge (PIG) receiving station, the Nord Stream 2 part of the landfall area in Lubmin on Germany’s Baltic Sea coast, taken on September 21, 2021. John MacDougall, AFP

The head of Latvia's natural gas storage operator said Saturday the Baltic states were no longer importing Russian natural gas.

"If there were still any doubts about whether there may be any trust in deliveries from Russia, current events clearly show us that there is no more trust," said Uldis Bariss, CEO of Conexus Baltic Grid.

"Since April 1st Russian natural gas is no longer flowing to Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania," he told Latvian radio.

He added that the Baltic market was currently being served by gas reserves stored underground in Latvia, AFP said.

The move comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin has sought to leverage Russia's status as an energy power.

With his economy crippled by unprecedented international sanctions, Putin warned EU members that they would need to set up ruble accounts to pay for Russian gas.

He said Thursday that existing contracts would be halted if the payments were not made.

While the United States banned the import of Russian oil and gas, the European Union -- which received around 40 percent of its gas supplies from Russia in 2021 -- has retained deliveries from Moscow.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda called on the rest of the EU to follow the Baltic example.

"From this month on - no more Russian gas in Lithuania," he said on Twitter.

"Years ago my country made decisions that today allow us with no pain to break energy ties with the aggressor," he added.

"If we can do it, the rest of Europe can do it too!"

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Inflation Rose to 2.3% in Europe. That Won't Stop the Central Bank from Cutting Interest Rates

A view shows the Bercy Economy and Finance Ministry as a metro operated by the Paris transport network RATP passes over the Pont de Bercy bridge in Paris, France, November 28, 2024. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
A view shows the Bercy Economy and Finance Ministry as a metro operated by the Paris transport network RATP passes over the Pont de Bercy bridge in Paris, France, November 28, 2024. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
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Inflation Rose to 2.3% in Europe. That Won't Stop the Central Bank from Cutting Interest Rates

A view shows the Bercy Economy and Finance Ministry as a metro operated by the Paris transport network RATP passes over the Pont de Bercy bridge in Paris, France, November 28, 2024. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq
A view shows the Bercy Economy and Finance Ministry as a metro operated by the Paris transport network RATP passes over the Pont de Bercy bridge in Paris, France, November 28, 2024. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq

Inflation in the 20 countries that use the euro currency rose in November — but that likely won’t stop the European Central Bank from cutting interest rates as the prospect of new US tariffs from the incoming Trump administration adds to the gloom over weak growth.
The European Union’s harmonized index of consumer prices stood up 2.3% in the year to November, up from 2.0% in October, the EU statistics agency Eurostat reported Friday.
Energy prices fell 1.9% from a year ago, but that was offset by price increases of 3.9% in the services sector, a broad category including haircuts, medical treatment, hotels and restaurants, and sports and entertainment, The Associated Press reported.
Inflation has come down a long way from the peak of 10.6% in October 2022 as the ECB quickly raised rates to cool off price rises. It then started cutting them in June as worries about growth came into sharper focus.
High central bank benchmark rates combat inflation by influencing borrowing costs throughout the economy. Higher rates make buying things on credit — whether a car, a house or a new factory — more expensive and thus reduce demand for goods and take pressure off prices. However, higher rates can also dampen growth.
Growth worries got new emphasis after surveys of purchasing managers compiled by S&P Global showed the eurozone economy was contracting in October. On top of that come concerns about how US trade policy under incoming President Donald Trump, including possible new tariffs, or import taxes on imported goods, might affect Europe’s export-dependent economy. Trump takes office Jan. 20.
The eurozone’s economic output is expected to grow 0.8% for all of this year and 1.3% next year, according to the European Commission’s most recent forecast.
All that has meant the discussion about the Dec. 12 ECB meeting has focused not on whether the Frankfurt-based bank’s rate council will cut rates, but by how much. Market discussion has included the possibility of a larger than usual half-point cut in the benchmark rate, currently 3.25%.
Inflation in Germany, the eurozone’s largest economy, held steady at 2.4%. That “will strengthen opposition against a 50 basis point cut,” said Carsten Brzeski, global chief of macro at ING bank, using financial jargon for a half-percentage-point cut.
The ECB sets interest rate policy for the European Union member countries that have joined the euro currency.