energy
EU imported Russian LNG worth 4.5 billion euros
There are extensive import bans for coal and oil, but Moscow gas still arrives in the EU. According to the EU Commission, this should change in the coming years.
In the first half of 2025, the EU imported liquid gas from Russia worth around 4.48 billion euros. That is 29 percent more than the same period in the previous year as can be seen from data from the EU statistics authority Eurostat.
In total, liquid gas (LNG; Liquefied Natural Gas) worth around 26.9 billion euros was imported in the first six months of this year. Most – for around 13.7 billion euros – came from the USA. Last year, according to the EU Commission, the United States with almost 45 percent of total imports were the largest LNG supplier of the EU.
Why continues to flow from Russia into the EU?
Unlike for fossil fuels such as oil and coal, the EU has so far not launched gas sanctions due to dependencies. As a liquid gas (LNG) and through the Turkstream pipeline, gas is currently still being accelerated.
According to the EU Commission, gas deliveries from Russia accounted for almost 19 percent of all imports in 2024. Overall, according to the EU statistics authority Eurostat, the EU statistics authority, according to the natural and processed gas worth 15.6 billion euros, was imported from Russia. For comparison: from the USA, gas worth 19.1 billion euros came.
Against the background of the Russian attack war against Ukraine, which has been going on since February 2022, the EU Commission now wants to completely prohibit the import of Russian gas into the community of states: from 2028, the authority will no longer have a gas from Russia.
What exactly does the authority want?
According to a commission proposal from June, the ban should apply for long -term delivery contracts from January 1, 2028. The Commission wants to ban gas imports as part of short -term contracts in a short year, from June 17, 2026. If Russian gas is still obtained on the basis of now, this should no longer be introduced from January 1, 2026. The basis for the plans should be EU trade and EU energy law.
The proposal must still be negotiated by the EU countries and the EU Parliament. At the state level, the approval of 15 out of 27 EU countries is required, which together make up at least 65 percent of the total population of the EU.
Are German companies affected?
If the import restrictions are proposed as proposed by the Commission, the federal German energy company Sefe is also affected. Based on an existing, long -term contract, it further imports liquid gas from Russia into the EU. The company Sefe used to be called Gazprom Germania, was a daughter of the Russian state corporation Gazprom and was nationalized as a result of the Russian war war on Ukraine and the energy crisis in Germany.
What exactly the import ban for SEFE means is still unclear: “A final assessment of the effects of the European Commission’s Ordinance on the phase-out of Russian energy imports is only possible when it is finalized,” said the company.
Does such a ban have consequences for consumers?
According to the Commission, consumers do not have to worry. The measures should be implemented gradually and in coordination with the EU countries in order to minimize possible effects on prices. According to an analysis of the authority, the remaining gas quantities could expire without risks for security of supply. There are enough alternative providers on the global gas market.
Nevertheless, the commission proposal contains a kind of security clause if the security of supply of one or more Member States could be seriously endangered. Under these circumstances, the Commission could allow one or more EU countries affected to suspend the import bans for gas.
dpa
Source: Stern
