Germany has increased its purchases of Russian LNG by over 500% through other EU countries.

Although Germany has banned tankers carrying Russian LNG, it continues to acquire it through other EU nations. For instance, the energy company Sefe, which was formerly owned by Gazprom and was nationalized by Germany in 2022, purchased 58 cargoes of LNG through the French port of Dunkirk last year. This marks more than a 500% increase compared to the previous year, analysts note.

Despite halting imports of Russian pipeline gas, Germany continues to receive between 3% and 9.2% of its gas from Russia via other EU countries. After LNG is delivered to Belgian ports, regasified, and sent through pipelines to other EU nations, it is typically labeled as Belgian gas in official German databases, even though Belgium lacks its own LNG production. Meanwhile, Belgium is one of the largest recipients of Russian LNG, alongside Spain and France.

Russian LNG supplies to Europe hit a record 17.2 billion cubic meters in 2024. Part of this volume is bound by long-term contracts that companies cannot break.