The European Union has significantly reduced its imports of energy resources from Russia, yet it still transfers around €1.5 billion monthly for fossil fuels. This was stated by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who noted that despite the substantial reduction in purchases, the abandonment of Russian energy sources will be a key step towards Europe’s energy independence.
This is reported by Finway
EU Reduces Dependence on Russian Energy Sources
According to von der Leyen, imports of Russian gas, both liquefied (LNG) and pipeline gas, have already been reduced from 45% to 13%. At the same time, coal supplies from Russia have decreased from 51% to zero, and crude oil imports have fallen from 26% to 2%. This has significantly impacted the revenues of the Russian Federation, which are used to finance the war against Ukraine.
“At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the EU was transferring €12 billion monthly to Russia for fossil fuels. Now this amount has been reduced to €1.5 billion per month. Our goal is to bring this figure down to zero”.
New Rules on Russian Gas and Prospects for Complete Phase-Out
European institutions have reached a preliminary political agreement regarding the gradual phase-out of purchases of Russian natural gas. According to the new agreements, the final ban on entering into long-term contracts for the supply of pipeline gas will take effect no later than November 1, 2027. For long-term contracts on LNG, restrictions will begin to apply from January 1, 2027.
Additionally, the European Commission plans to introduce legislative initiatives that will also aim to halt the import of Russian oil no later than the end of 2027. The abandonment of energy resources from Russia is expected to ensure energy security and independence for EU countries.
Hungary, for its part, opposes the RePowerEU proposal to ban the import of Russian gas. Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto announced intentions to challenge this decision in court.