The Belgian Energy Minister is not sure about the possibility of abandoning LNG from the Russian Federation

Belgian Energy Minister Tinne Van der Streten said she is not sure whether her country will use the EU mechanism to block supplies of liquefied natural gas from Russia, reports Reuters from a meeting of the Energy Committee of the EU Parliament.

“There are contracts in Belgium (for the supply of LNG from the Russian Federation.— “Kommersant”), which were signed long before the war, and now the question remains open of how to solve this problem,” said Ms. Van der Streten. The head of the Ministry of Energy said that blocking LNG supplies will require consultations with the countries to which Belgium re-exports gas.

In December 2023, the Council of the EU and the European Parliament agreed large-scale restrictions for Russian gas suppliers. The adoption of the bill allowed EU countries at the national level to prohibit suppliers from the Russian Federation from accessing gas transportation infrastructure, including LNG terminals. European companies received the option to break long-term contracts with Russian suppliers, minimizing the risks of paying multi-billion-dollar penalties.

In 2023, Belgium purchased the largest volumes of Russian LNG among European countries – 5 million tons. France is in second place on the continent for this indicator with 3.67 million tons. In Asia, the largest shipments were made to China – 6.7 million tons, Japan – 6 million tons, South Korea – 1.7 million tons.

About LNG exports from Russia in 2023 – in the material of Kommersant “Russian gas has liquefied with reality”.

Erdni Kagaltynov