Finland’s natural gas supplier Gasum Oy and its Estonian counterpart Eesti Gaas AS agreed to set up an exchange in the Baltic country. A memorandum of understanding, signed on Dec. 21, is part of a long-term goal of a single natural gas market covering Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the companies said in a joint statement today on the Gasum Oy website. A similar agreement was signed between Gasum and Lithuania’s AB Lietuvos Dujos (LDJ1L) in November, they added. A joint Finnish-Baltic market would also benefit from plans to build liquefied natural gas terminals in the region, according to the statement. The three Baltic nations are seeking European Union support to build such a terminal, saying they’re being charged more for Russian gas imports than western European countries and citing supply risks. Russia’s OAO Gazprom (GAZP), the sole supplier of gas to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and Germany’s E.ON AG (EOAN) are among the biggest shareholders in Gasum as well as Eesti Gaas and Lietuvos Dujos. To contact the reporter on this story: Ott Ummelas in Tallinn at oummelas@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net

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