Russian power exports to Finland fall to zero

HELSINKI, May 16 (Reuters) - Russian exports of power to Finland were down to zero early on Monday, flow data showed, after Russian utility firm Inter RAO said last week it would halt them because it had not been paid.

Inter RAO said on Friday it would stop exporting electricity to Finland from Saturday 1 a.m. local time (2200 GMT on Friday) "for the time being" as it had not been paid for power sold via pan-European exchange Nord Pool since May 6.

Flows of Russian power to Finland on Monday were down to nil, data from grid operator Fingrid showed. They fell from 87 megawatts to zero early on Saturday.

Finnish grid operator Fingrid, which has said it can replace Russian supplies with Swedish power and by boosting domestic production, said on Saturday the suspension of Russian transmission was due to restrictions on payments imposed by Western nations.

"Due to these restrictions payments for sold Russian electricity can no longer be made. The suspension is therefore rather a consequence than a Russian countermeasure," Fingrid said.

Fingrid, which said Russia accounted for some 10% of Finland's total consumption, said last month it had prepared for the prospect of Russia cutting electricity flows to Finland by restricting the transmission capacity by a third. (Reporting by Gwladys Fouche and Nora Buli; Editing by Edmund Blair)