70 Nõmme households stand to lose access to gas
Gas provider Eesti Gaas is about to order its subsidiary Gaasivõrk to stop supplying a small Tallinn grid company called Tallinngaas with natural gas. Around 70 customers stand to lose access to gas in a week's time as things stand.
Tallinngaas and Eesti Gaas have been arguing for years over gas sales and delivery, with the dispute also landing in the Supreme Court in previous years.
The problem is that the amount of gas allocated for Tallinngaas' grid differs from the amount consumed by its customers. Eesti Gaas CEO Raul Kotov claims that Tallinngaas is selling gas it has not bought from anyone. In other words, Eesti Gaas claims that gas simply disappears from Tallinngaas' grid.
To remedy the situation, Eesti Gaas has tried for years to sign a contract with Tallinngaas that would allow it to charge for this so-called missing gas. The smaller company has been reluctant to comply.
Owner and head of Tallinngaas Eda Saaberg maintains that her grid is tight and that possible differences in the amount of gas that comes into the system and is sold to customers are down to different measuring temperatures, meter peculiarities etc.
Eesti Gaas has now sent a letter to customers in Tallinngaas' grid zone warning them that gas deliveries could be ceased if the company fails to sign the contract. Kotov said that Tallinngaas is free to sign with any Estonian gas seller.
Saaberg said that she is not about to assume harmful obligations for her company and will not be signing. Asked what will become of customers using her grid, Saaberg said she does not believe Eesti Gaas has the right to deny her gas.
Eesti Gaas said that while it plans to ask subsidiary Gaasivõrk to stop sending gas to Tallinngaas' grid, it is impossible to say what will happen. Raul Kotov said that the Competition Authority will need to have a say and decide the outcome.
Should the watchdog approve Eesti Gaas' move, Tallinngaas customers could be cut off from gas in a few weeks' time.
Tallinngaas is registered to have a single employee and 67 customers (2019 annual report data). Its grid is located in the Männiku tee industrial and residential area in Nõmme.
In 2019, Tallinngaas made a loss of €16,680 at a total turnover of €167,372 of which €70,710 was sale of natural gas and €72,401 net turnover of network service sales.
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Editor: Marcus Turovski