Austria continues to buy gas from Russia despite the Ukraine war. Other EU countries are also filling Putin’s war chest by importing Russian liquefied natural gas.
Vienna – Germany has reduced imports of pipeline gas from Russia from 55 percent almost completely to zero because of the war in Ukraine. Other European countries, however, continue to purchase a lot of fossil fuels, filling Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin’s war chest. Above all Austria.
Despite the war in Ukraine: Austria covers the majority of its needs with Russian gas
Unlike oil, the European Union has not imposed any sanctions on Russian gas. The Alpine republic is taking advantage of this. According to data from Austria’s energy regulator E-Control, an average of 60 percent of imported natural gas comes from Russia. In September the proportion was even 80 percent, which is roughly the same as at the beginning of the Ukraine war.
Putin’s gas from Russia flows through a pipeline that runs through Ukraine. The fact that Austria has not yet given up Russian gas is due to a contract that is still valid for a long time. The raw materials and petrochemicals group OMV is tied to supplies from Gazprom until 2040.
Other EU countries are also hanging on to Putin’s gas drip: Spain is the world’s second largest buyer
But other EU countries also import a lot of Russian gas – especially Spain. Information from the non-governmental organization Global Witness According to the report, the country received 7.5 million cubic meters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by ship from Russia between January and July. This corresponds to 18 percent of total Russian LNG exports. Only China, which is hesitant to build a new gas pipeline from Russia, bought more during the period.
“Spain exports a large part of its gas imports to other countries – and benefits from its high regasification capacities,” said Ramón Mateo, energy expert at the Bebartlet consultancy Daily Mirror. The two largest buyers are France and Italy. The third largest buyer of Russian LNG worldwide is Belgium with 17 percent (7.1 million cubic meters). France purchases 4.5 million cubic meters.
Russia’s gas does not come by pipeline: EU countries rely on LNG by tanker
“It is shocking to see that many EU countries have become independent of Russian gas via pipelines, only to replace it with LNG via tankers,” he said Global Witness-Expert Jonathan Noronah-Gant in the Financial Times quoted.
The bottom line is that in the first seven months of the year, EU states imported more liquefied natural gas from Russia than before the start of the Ukraine war. Loud Global Witness At 22 million cubic meters of LNG, there were 40 percent more compared to the same period in 2021. 52 percent of all Russian LNG exports went to the EU. For Putin this meant income of almost 5.3 billion euros. (mt)
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