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Finnish state-owned energy company Fortum has decided to suspend all its new investments in Russia until further notice in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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Bloomberg reported that the company also plans to reduce the number of its thermal power plants in Russia and focus instead on domestic energy generation.
Fortum currently operates seven thermal power plants in Russia through its Russian arm for district heating purposes, according to Reuters.
The company is the latest in a series of energy firms to withdraw from the country, including BP and ExxonMobil.
Bloomberg noted that Russia accounts for around one-fifth of Fortum’s operating income.
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By GlobalDataFortum CEO Markus Rauramo was quoted by the news agency as saying: “Business as usual cannot continue.
“We have stopped all new investment projects in Russia until further notice and we will continue to reduce our thermal exposure.”
The company added that it will now focus on power projects in Finland.
According to Bloomberg, Fortum intends to apply for an extension of its two Loviisa reactors, which are situated on Finland’s south coast.
The firm plans to run these nuclear facilities until 2050 and invest a total of €1bn ($1.1bn) in the project.
In a separate statement, Rauramo said: “Continuing production in Loviisa is above all an investment in securing the supply of clean domestic electricity.
“The economic, political and societal aspects were factored into our decision.”
Last June, the Fortum-Rusnano wind investment fund announced plans to develop wind power facilities in Russia’s Samara region.
The wind power facilities will have a combined capacity of 236.6MW and be financed by Gazprombank, a Russian privately owned bank.
The investment decision came after a non-binding wider cooperation agreement was signed between the Fortum-Rusnano fund and the government of the Samara Region.
