On Sunday, the Finnish government announced emergency funding of up to 10 billion euros aimed at stabilising the electricity market. The funding is to be provided in the form of loans and loan guarantees, not grants.
Prime Minister Sanna Marin (SDP) made the announcement, flanked by Finance Minister Annika Saarikko (Cen) and Minister of Economic Affairs Mika Lintilä (Cen).
The cabinet met at the House of Estates on Sunday afternoon to negotiate the funding package, and began a press conference shortly after 5pm.
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Marin said that the bill would be presented to Parliament on Monday.
The proposed loan and guarantee program would be valid until the end of 2023, with loan periods of a maximum of 2 years. The loans are to be granted according to market terms, the government said.
The programme is intended as a last-resort financing option for companies that would otherwise be threatened with insolvency.
The emergency funding was discussed during last week's budget negotiations and again by the leaders of the five governing parties on Saturday, when the Swedish government announced similar emergency funding.
Saarikko commented on Twitter on Saturday evening that preparations for the financial package were already well advanced.
"A package of measures for the cash management risks of power generation companies will be quickly brought to Parliament," Saarikko wrote.
No "free money"
At the press conference on Sunday, Saarikko said that the state would not be offering "free money" but rather loans and loan guarantees with "extremely strict conditions" that would only be used as a last resort to ensure liquidity.
The finance minister stressed that the aim of the measures was to ensure security of supply and boost energy self-sufficiency in Finland.
"We aim to avoid a major crisis," she said, noting that some utilities might conceivably be at risk of collapse due to a cashflow shortage. However she said it was impossible to predict when a worst-case situation might be reached.
Saarikko urged the EU to take collective action on the issue as soon as possible. She said that she and Lintilä would raise the question at EU ministerial meetings this week.
Marin said that the government has already asked the European Commission to intervene in the structural problems related to electricity market futures.
"We expect the Commission to respond to this issue. Finland cannot manage this on its own," said the premier.
In response to a question, Lintilä said that the funding would only be available to Finnish companies, and not, for instance, to majority-state-owned Fortum's German subsidiary Uniper.
Saarikko said each company's situation and needs would be considered on a case-by-case basis. She said that the cabinet had not set a maximum amount that would be available to any single firm.
Saarikko pointed out that many of Finland's energy utilities are partly or wholly owned by local municipalities, so that the knock-on effects of financial difficulties could be extensive.
The finance minister added that the government discussed the idea of a "windfall tax" on rapidly rising profits for energy companies benefitting from phenomena they were not responsible for. However, ministers decided that it was unclear whether it would have the desired result in the current, unstable situation, she said.
On Sunday the German government said it would use income from windfall taxes to lower consumer prices for energy.
