A coalition of European environmental organizations, including the German Environmental Aid (DUH), has called for an EU-wide embargo on Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG). “The federal government must take a political and economic U-turn and demand an immediate EU-wide embargo on Russian LNG” said DUH’s Federal Managing Director Sascha Müller-Kraenner on Tuesday. “This is crucial for security and climate policy. Only by expanding renewable energy can Germany and Europe achieve a stable and affordable energy independence.”
Despite sanctions, the EU’s imports of Russian LNG reached a record high in 2024, according to a new analysis by the DUH, in collaboration with the environmental organizations Urgewald, Razom We Stand (Ukraine) and Bond Beter Leefmilieu (Belgium). The analysis used data from the data provider KPLER.
A key role was played by the state-owned German company Sefe (formerly Gazprom Germania), which, according to the environmental organizations, acted as a buyer for 58 deliveries with a total volume of 4.1 million tons, compared to 12 deliveries with a volume of 880,000 tons in 2023, a six-and-a-half-fold increase. Russian LNG accounted for at least 3 and up to 9.2 percent of Germany’s total gas imports in 2023, it was said. The exact amount is difficult to determine due to the lack of transparency in the EU’s gas internal market.
“More than a thousand days after the start of Russia’s war on Ukraine, the EU is still importing Russian LNG and the imports have even reached a record high in 2024” Müller-Kraenner said. “The state-owned company Sefe holds on to long-term contracts with the Russian supplier Novatek and appeared in 2024 as a central buyer” the accusation was made.
Svitlana Romanko, the Ukrainian founder and managing director of Razom We Stand, expressed outrage. “We are approaching the third year of Russia’s horrific war against Ukraine. It is shocking that the EU’s imports of Russian LNG have even increased in this time” Romanko said. “Government and state leaders must stop their hypocrisy. If they claim to support Ukraine, they must not at the same time send their money to Russia, which fills its war chests and commits atrocities and war crimes against innocent people.”
The federal government must “take responsibility for the state-owned company Sefe now, by stopping the imports of Russian LNG and advocating for a complete embargo on all Russian fossil fuels in Europe” the environmentalist said. “Furthermore, a complete embargo would strengthen the negotiating position in future peace negotiations.”
Angelos Koutsisbe, an energy expert at Bond Beter Leefmilieu, explained that while Germany had banned the import of Russian LNG through its own ports, “there are imports that officially come from France and Belgium, but in reality are partly Russian LNG. In the end, all countries can claim they are not responsible for the increasing imports of Russian LNG.” “To end this game, we are calling for the tracking of LNG from the country of origin to the EU country where the gas is consumed. This would not only provide more transparency, but also strengthen the supply security and support the EU in achieving its climate goals.