Finland's two leading opposition parties have laid out preliminary conditions about the government's proposed multi-billion-euro emergency support package for electricity firms.
The centre-left government announced on Sunday that it is preparing to finance energy companies with a loan and guarantee package valued at up to 10 billion euros.
According to Riikka Purra, the chair of the opposition Finns Party, noted that the government's plan is a question of large sums of money.
Meanwhile, chair of the National Coalition Party's parliamentary group, Kai Mykkänen, cautioned that MPs need to be careful about such large sums.
Reasonable price limits
Purra said the Finns Party plans to take a formal position about the proposed package after details about it are clarified. However, she noted that companies that participate in the programme should sell electricity at reasonable prices.
"Currently, many electricity firms are making significant profits because the production costs of hydro-, nuclear- and wind power have not increased in Finland, while the increased prices are due to other factors," Purra noted.
She added that her party has demanded that structural changes are needed to target the root causes of high electricity prices.
"It would be good to understand that Russia's attack on Ukraine is not the only reason for the rising price of electricity and this market situation. Electricity prices began to rise significantly before that. The reason for the increase, among other things, were the wrong decisions made under the guise of the green transition, like the emissions trading system, and these causes also need to be tackled courageously," Purra said.
Strict rules
According to the NCP's Mykkänen, the government-proposed loan and loan guarantee programme needs to be strict. The party has also called for the removal of obstacles blocking investments in electricity production in general.
"We need to be able to multiply our electricity generation in a few years, so that we never find ourselves in this kind of situation again," Mykkänen said.
"We demand the government publicly announce that all new nuclear power projects — both smaller nuclear power and larger ones — will be viewed positively," he said.
The Finance Committee and Commerce Committee are scheduled to begin reviewing the government's proposal on Tuesday.