Germany has ordered its state-owned gas terminals to reject Russian gas supplies. Photo: Hans-Peter Merten/Getty Images
Germany’s Ministry of Economy has banned the acceptance of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) at state-owned import terminals to strengthen the country’s and the European Union’s energy independence from Russia. Deutsche Energy Terminal, the company that manages the terminals, received the order, the Financial Times reports.
The ban on Russian LNG supplies is in line with Berlin’s policy of energy independence, which was launched after the start of Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine in 2022. Before the war, Germany was the largest importer of Russian gas in Europe, but now the country is looking for alternative sources of supply and is actively building infrastructure to import LNG by sea.
“Acceptance of Russian LNG would contradict the main purpose of the terminals – to ensure Germany’s and the EU’s energy independence from Russian gas,” the German Ministry of Economy said. Since the Russian invasion, Germany has not imported Russian LNG, and the new order ensures that this policy remains unchanged.
Germany followed the example of the United States and the United Kingdom, which had earlier imposed a complete ban on Russian LNG imports. However, other EU countries, such as France, Spain and Belgium, continue to purchase Russian gas under long-term contracts. Despite joint efforts to diversify, Russian LNG still accounts for about 20% of total LNG supplies to Europe.
The German state-owned company Sefe also has a long-term contract to supply LNG from a Russian plant in Yamal. However, the majority of this fuel is sent to an import terminal in France, where it is converted into gaseous form and fed into the European gas network. Since October 2022, Germany has been receiving a portion of its gas through France via a pipeline.
Germany’s decision once again underlines the importance of energy autonomy for Europe as sanctions pressure on Russia over its actions in Ukraine increases.
