Germany's imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia have soared by 500% in 2024 compared to the same period last year, reaching a total value of 7.32 billion euros, according to the Financial Times.
Although Berlin officially bans direct imports of Russian LNG at new facilities on its northern coast, in practice, Russian gas still enters Germany via intermediate ports in Europe.
German state energy company Sefe, formerly part of Gazprom and nationalized in 2022, has purchased 58 LNG cargoes via the French port of Dunkirk in 2024 - marking a five-fold increase from 2023.
Between 3% and 9.2% of Germany's gas supplies still originate from Russia, arriving in the country via other EU members.
Before the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out in 2022, Germany was heavily dependent on Russian gas via the Nord Stream pipeline and had yet to build LNG terminals.
After the Russia-Ukraine conflict escalated in 2022, Berlin banned direct imports of Russian gas but continued to import through third parties.
However, with falling volumes and rising costs, the end of cheap gas imports from Russia has led to the deindustrialisation of the German economy and plunged the EU's leading economy into a two-year recession.
A significant portion of Russian LNG arrives at Belgian ports, where it is regasified and shipped via pipelines across Europe. Once it reaches Germany – home to the EU’s largest gas storage tanks – the gas is often recorded as Belgian in official energy statistics, even though Belgium has no domestic LNG production.
Belgium is one of the largest importers of Russian LNG, along with Spain and France. In 2024, total Russian LNG imports into Europe reached a record 17.2 billion cubic meters, with many long-term contracts that cannot be canceled. This figure accounts for more than 50% of Russia's LNG exports, making Europe the most important market for Russian LNG.
The EU is currently preparing its 16th package of sanctions against Russia, which is expected to be enacted on the third anniversary of the conflict in Ukraine. Despite a recent call by 10 EU members to ban imports of Russian LNG, LNG will not be included in the upcoming sanctions package.
The EU recently announced a roadmap to abandon Russian LNG by 2027, but the bloc's members remain deeply divided on the issue.
The largest buyers of Russian LNG in the EU in 2024 are France (6.3 million tonnes), Spain (4.8 million tonnes), Belgium (4.4 million tonnes) and the Netherlands (1.3 million tonnes).
But what distorts the real picture of consumption is Germany. Germany, which has banned the loading of Russian LNG tankers at its terminals, imports gas via France. As a result, even today, 3-9% of the gas consumed in Germany comes from Russia.
Meanwhile, Russia is expanding its gas influence into Asia. China has doubled its imports of Russian LNG, while the upcoming Power of Siberia 2 pipeline could pump an additional 50 billion cubic meters of gas a year when completed. Russia is also negotiating a new gas pipeline route through Kazakhstan.
