The main buyers of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Europe at the end of 2023 were Spain and Belgium – they accounted for almost three quarters of all supplies to the EU. This was reported by RIA Novosti agency with reference to the data of European statistics.
Spain bought more than 40 percent of all LNG supplied by Russia last year – 5.24 billion cubic metres, five percent more than a year earlier.
Belgium came second with a 30 per cent share of European imports of Russian LNG. The country increased purchases 1.7 times, to 3.82 billion cubic metres. The Netherlands is in third place. At the same time, the volume of their purchases decreased in annual terms by 1.9 times, to 2.1 billion cubic metres.
Greece was the leader in the growth of LNG imports from Russia, which increased 4.1 times to 750 million cubic metres, putting it in fourth place in the list of the largest buyers. Portugal, which increased its purchases 1.4 times, to 390 million cubic metres, became fifth. Finland, Italy, Sweden, Estonia and Lithuania bought small amounts of gas – a total of about 380 million cubic metres.
By the end of 2023, the EU has increased purchases of Russian LNG by about three per cent to 12.7 billion cubic metres.
Earlier, the British newspaper The Telegraph, citing Eurostat, reported that despite the sanctions against Russia, the EU countries imported €6.1 billion worth of Russian liquefied natural gas in 2023 – more than half of all exports from Russia.