Russia Mulls New Investments in LNG, Finland Confirms Moscow’s Centrality

While Russia mulls new investments in LNG facilities, Scandinavian countries are taking the lead to settle the controversies with Moscow and the problems in the Middle East. 

“It’s the Government’s responsibility to approve a list of companies with the exclusive right to export LNG. Under the current criteria for specifying these companies, this exclusive right has been granted to four companies: OJSC Gazprom, its subsidiary Gazprom Export, OJSC Rosneft and OJSC Yamal LNG,” Dmitry Medvedev said in a note released on Tuesday, confirming Russian commitment to keep an eye on the LNG sector. 

Meanwhile, European strategy is slowly unfolding: the block maintains a very strong stance against Russian role in Ukraine, but many European countries are equally trying to secure their business ties with the Kremlin. 

“The situation in Ukraine has posed new challenges for cooperation between Finland and Russia. As an EU Member State, our position on the Ukraine crisis is very clear. At the same time, we consider it very important to conduct high-level dialogue with Russia now and in the future,” Finland’s Prime Minister Alexander Stubb said in the afternoon. 

While Norway is voicing its concerns for the situation in the Middle East, Finland is indeed called to solve first its problem with its mighty neighbour. A stabilisation of the relations with Russia is clearly a priority for Helsinki, as well as for the other Baltic States.