The aforementioned law "Amendments to the Energy Law" comes into force on August 11, 2022, while paragraph 68 thereof stipulates that the fourth paragraph of Section 106 of this Law (i.e. the Energy Law) (which provides for a ban on the supply of natural gas from the Russian Federation) shall come into force on January 1, 2023. Thus, JSC "Latvijas Gāze" is prohibited by law from receiving natural gas from the Russian Federation after 01.01.2023.
JSC "Latvijas Gāze" within the framework of its economic activity performs the necessary actions to continue providing natural gas services by purchasing it from other alternative suppliers.
Article 107, Part 4, Clause 3 of the Law "Amendments to the Energy Law" instructs the public trader of natural gas to ensure that, no later than August 31 of each year, the amount of natural gas required for the consumption of households (related users) for the period from October 1 to October 30 of the following year in April is stored in the Inčukalns underground storage facilities.
As of the date of publication of this announcement, the amount of natural gas belonging to JSC "Latvijas Gāze", located in the Inčukalns underground gas storage facilities, amounts to 0.75Twh. On the other hand, as of August 31, 2022, taking into account the contractual obligations already undertaken, the amount of natural gas owned by AS "Latvijas Gāze" and stored in the Inčukalns underground facilities, will amount to 0.69 TWh.
Taking into account the aforementioned and the adopted amendments to the Energy Law, which stipulates that as of January 1, 2023, natural gas supplies from Russia are prohibited, JSC "Latvijas Gāze" announces that as of August 31, 2022, it will not be able to provide the obligation of a public trader specified in the Energy Law to store the required amount of natural gas reserves in the Inčukalns underground storage facilities. Pursuant to Article 107, Part 4.1 of the Energy Law, in a situation where the existing public trader (JSC "Latvijas Gāze") does not fulfill the task set by the law, the functions of the public trader are taken over and performed by SJSC "Latvenergo".
JSC "Latvijas Gāze" has repeatedly informed the Government of Latvia and the Ministry of Economy responsible for the development of the energy sector about the aforementioned situation, as well as requested to convene a meeting with all parties involved in the event of a possible change of public trader, in order to find a constructive and coordinated action plan, which has not yet taken place.
JSC "Latvijas Gāze"
Chairman of the Board
Aigars Kalvītis
