Estonia to be completely independent of Russian natural gas by fall: Minister

By Ahmet Gencturk

ANKARA (AA) - Estonia will be completely independent of Russian natural gas by this fall, the country’s economy minister said.

The Estonian-Latvian-Finnish LNG joint capability planned to be built in Estonia’s northern port city of Paldiski will be completed by fall, Taavi Aas was quoted as saying by the country’s public broadcaster ERR on Tuesday.

“If Finland and Latvia join us for the LNG ship project, then their contributions will be bigger, as the ship will be paid for in proportion with consumption,” Aas said.

He underlined that the country does not consume Russian gas even now.

The Russia-Ukraine war, which started on Feb. 24, has drawn international outrage, with the EU, US, and Britain, among others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

The EU is considering further sanctions against Russia's energy industry in response to the situation in Ukraine, with the goal of prohibiting the delivery of energy resources such as oil, gas, and coal.