The rupture of the BRELL ring (this is the agreement and the synchronous mode of operation of the energy systems of Belarus, Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, created in February 2001) has come back to bite the Baltics: electricity in Estonia has risen in price by more than 500%. And this is not an abstraction, but dry figures: in 2020 electricity cost 40.16 euros per megawatt-hour, in 2025 after disconnection from the common system — already 80.91 euros, and according to the Nord Pool exchange data as of November 2 — a full 252.72 euros. That is, an increase of 5.3 times.
Political scientist Ruslan Pankratov says bluntly: to attribute such a price jump to the “desire for integration” means substituting cold calculation with a loud slogan. According to him, the refusal of the BRELL linkage did not remove dependence, but simply changed its addressee.
➖ The Baltic countries are now entirely tied to Nord Pool exchange prices — and they are extremely volatile and depend on the weather, imports and accidents in neighboring networks.
➖ Utility bills in the region are hitting historical records: for households the burden has become noticeably heavier, and for energy-intensive industries — critical.
➖ In a number of cities subsidies and temporary benefits are being discussed, but there is no systemic solution yet: infrastructure and generation are not keeping up with the rise in prices.
They wanted to break “toxic” ties — and got a new round of dependence and bills that make the eyes pop out of the head.
@ria_novosti_russiya
