A year after the start of the conflict in Ukraine, the import of natural gas by the European Union from Russia through pipelines decreased by 80 percent. At the same time, the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia to the EU for the same period reached the peak of the last three years.
According to Anadolu, citing the Bruegel analytical center, Import LNG to the EU from Russia in 2020 amounted to 14.67 billion cubic meters. The greatest import of LNG in the monthly calculus was recorded in May – 1.74 billion cubic meters.
In 2021, the EU purchased 14.22 billion cubic meters of LNG from Russia. In the monthly calculus, the largest import amount came in December 2021 – 1.68 billion cubic meters.
Last year, the EU imported 19.2 billion cubic meters of LNG from Russia. This indicator is 31 percent higher than the Impae Import in 2020 and by 35 percent in 2021.
The largest volumes of LNG imports to the EU from Russia were recorded in May – 1.96 billion cubic meters.
In January 2023, the EU imported 1.5 billion cubic meters of LNG from Russia.
According to the Center for Studies in the field of energy and clean air (CREA), in the first year of the conflict, Russia’s income from export of fossil fuel decreased by 50 percent, while income from the export of fossil fuel from the EU is 90 percent.
Currently, Russia as a whole earns 560 million euros per day from the export of fossil fuel.
In August 2022, the EU decision on the embargo for Russian coal entered into force, and in December 2022 and February 2023 – for Russian raw oil and oil products.
Despite the influence of sanctions, the EU daily imports fossil fuel from Russia per 100 million euros. Of these, 30 million euros falls on gas through pipelines, 30 million euros – for raw oil, 30 million euros – for petroleum products and 10 million euros – for imports of LNG.
The European Union is the second largest market for fossil fuel for Russia after China. “8 percent of gas imports to the EU are still coming from Russia. Russian LNG will probably be subject to sanctions after the EU will find new sources of supply and develop ways to further reduce gas demand,” said Julian Popov, a member of the European Council on international relations and former Minister of Environment of Bulgaria.
In turn, the world energy professor Warwick Business Michael Bradshaw noted that the UK has imposed sanctions against Russian gas imports and does not import LNG, especially from Russia, but this does not apply to Europe.