EU spends billions on Russian liquefied gas

Aug 20, 2025 - 02:00
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EU spends billions on Russian liquefied gas

Brussels (dpa) – The EU imported liquefied natural gas from Russia worth around 4.48 billion euros in the first half of 2025. In the same period the previous year, it was gas worth around 3.47 billion euros, according to data from the EU statistics agency Eurostat.

In total, liquefied natural gas (LNG) worth around 26.9 billion euros was imported in the first six months of this year. Most of it – around 13.7 billion euros – came from the USA. According to the EU Commission, the United States was the largest LNG supplier to the EU in 2024, accounting for almost 45 percent of total LNG imports.

Unlike fossil fuels such as oil and coal, the EU has not yet implemented gas sanctions due to dependencies. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) and gas via the Turkstream pipeline continue to flow into the community of states. Against the backdrop of the ongoing Russian war of aggression against Ukraine since February 2022, the EU Commission aims to gradually ban Russian gas completely from the market.

EU Commission pushes ahead with import ban

According to plans from Brussels, long-term supply contracts will no longer be allowed to be fulfilled starting January 1, 2028. Short-term contracts are to be prohibited as of June 17, 2026. For newly concluded contracts, the end would already be January 1, 2026. The proposal still needs to be negotiated by the member states and the EU Parliament.

A spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of Economics said in response to an inquiry that it is important to further reduce unilateral dependencies and to no longer contribute to the financing of the war. Supply security and price stability must always remain in focus. (August 18)