Russia invaded Ukraine more than two years ago, but Russian natural gas is still flowing into Europe. Although the European Union has significantly reduced its quantity, the gas continues to be used in Europe and increases the Kremlin’s income, writes the server of the German station Deutsche Welle.
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Berlin
9:30 a.m May 5, 2024
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LNG terminal gas pipeline valve in Germany | Source: Photobank Profimedia
When the war began, European politicians had to deal with long-term dependence on Russian gas and oil. In 2021, Europe received 34 percent of all gas from Russia. Central and Eastern European countries were particularly dependent on it, writes the Deutsche Welle server.
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But when the 27th proposed a ban on imports, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was against it, saying that Europe deliberately did not impose sanctions on Russian energy because they cannot yet be replaced.
Putin took advantage of this and reduced gas imports to Europe in 2022. However, fears of a lack of energy did not materialize. The share of Russian gas imports to member states fell from 40 percent in 2021 to around 8 percent last year, but together with Russian liquefied natural gas, it was 15 percent.
The European Union has fundamentally reduced its dependence on Russian gas by increasing LNG imports from countries such as the United States and Qatar. However, this inadvertently led to higher imports of significantly discounted Russian liquefied gas.
Today, Russia is thus the second largest supplier of LNG in the EU. Last year, its supplies accounted for 16 percent, i.e. 40 percent more than Russia sold to the Union in 2021. And according to data from the first quarter of this year, Russian LNG exports to Europe again increased by 5 percent year-on-year. France, Spain and Belgium import it the most.
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However, the European market does not need that much LNG. The gas is therefore processed in European ports and then exported to third countries, which some states and companies in the Union make money from.
According to a recent report by the Center for Energy and Clean Air Research (CREA), 22 percent of Europe’s LNG imports from Russia were sent mostly to Asian countries last year.
Ban debates
Several European countries such as Sweden, Finland and the Baltic states are urging Brussels to impose a total ban on Russian LNG imports. However, this requires the consent of all member countries.
The Union is currently debating the ban on the re-export of Russian LNG from Europe and, according to the Bloomberg agency, the imposition of sanctions on the most important Russian LNG filling stations.
The European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators recently warned that the reduction of Russian LNG imports must be gradual to avoid an energy shock.
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Russian gas also still flows into the Union via pipelines. It comes to Austria’s Baumgarten gas hub via Ukraine.
The Austrian state energy company ÖMV has a contract with Russia’s Gazprom until 2040.
Austria confirmed that it took 98 percent of all its gas from Russia in December. The government there says it wants to end the contract with Gazprom as soon as possible, but for this to be legal, the union must first accept sanctions on Russian gas.
Hungary also buys a large amount of Russian raw materials. Although it was recently agreed on supplies from Turkey via the Turkstream gas pipeline, but according to experts, it supplies gas from Russia.
Low price
Some countries continue to buy Russian gas because of the low price. However, Ukraine may end its import to countries such as Austria and Hungary – Kyiv claims that it will no longer renew the agreement with Gazprom, which enables the transport of Russian gas through Ukraine. And it expires at the end of this year.
Although Russian gas continues to flow to Europe, its overall share of gas imports has declined sharply since 2021. The European Union says it wants to completely get rid of Russian supplies by 2027.
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According to Benjamin Hilgenstock from the Kyiv School of Economics, this goal is becoming more and more realistic. However, he adds that the “political conditions” for a complete embargo on gas, especially on gas pipelines, are not very favorable at the moment.
Hilgenstock considers Hungary’s European presidency in the second half of this year to be a potential obstacle. Budapest has closer ties with Moscow than most member states.
On the issue of LNG, the expert is more optimistic, although in addition to European steps, importers who import large quantities of it, such as Spain or Belgium, must also take measures, Deutsche Welle quotes the expert.
Gita Zbavitelová, Tea Veseláková
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