Nord Stream 1 closure threatens Sweden, Finland energy market with `Lehman Brothers' crisis

Finland and Sweden have announced plans to offer billions of dollars in liquidity guarantees to power companies in their countries after Russia's Gazprom shut the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, deepening Europe's energy crisis.

The Kremlin blamed European politicians on Sunday for the closure of the pipeline, saying their economic sanctions on Russia had hindered Gazprom from conducting maintenance.

Finland is aiming to offer €10 billion ($14.6 billion) and Sweden plans to offer 250 billion Swedish crowns ($34 billion) in liquidity guarantees.

"This has had the ingredients for a kind of a Lehman Brothers of energy industry," Finnish Economic Affairs Minister Mika Lintila said on Sunday, local time.

"The government's program is a last-resort financing option for companies that would otherwise be threatened with insolvency," Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin told a news conference.

State-controlled Finnish power company Fortum, which last week had urged Nordic regulators to take immediate action to avert defaults even among smaller players, praised the proposals made by Helsinki and Stockholm.

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'Sapere aude'