Deputy head of the EC called the complete rejection of gas from Russia “almost an impossible mission”

Deputy President of the European Commission (EC) Maros Sefcovic believes that at present the complete rejection of Russian gas supplies is an “almost impossible mission” for the countries of the European Union (EU). He stated this in an interview with the newspaper Handelsblatt.

According to the deputy head of the EC, in 2022, gas imports to the EU countries from Russia decreased from 150 billion cubic meters. m to less than 80 billion cubic meters. m. According to forecasts, this year the volume of imported Russian gas will amount to only 40 billion cubic meters, including liquefied natural gas. “So I would say that completely abandoning Russian gas is still an almost impossible mission,” he added.

At the same time, Maros Sefcovic noted that if the EU continues to develop gas infrastructure and establish new partnerships, the countries of the union will be able to further reduce imports of Russian LNG in the coming months. “In the case of gas imported through the EU’s common procurement platform, we are already making sure that it does not come from Russia,” Mr. Šefčović said.

In the summer of 2022, the EU took a number of measures to limit dependence on Russian supplies. The EU embargo on the import of crude oil from Russia came into force on December 5, 2022, on the import of petroleum products – on February 5, 2023. According to Eurostat estimates, the share of Russian oil supplies in EU imports decreased up to 2%, gas – up to 13%, coal – to zero, metals – twice, fertilizers – by a third. By 2027, the European Union intends to completely abandon the import of Russian fossil fuels.

More details – in the material “Kommersant” “Russia-EU trade has found a balance”.

Milena Kostereva