Western countries have been trying for more than two years to find out the extent of the ‘shadow fleet’ allegedly used by Russia to supply energy to circumvent sanctions, with the EU meanwhile becoming the largest buyer of Russian liquefied natural gas in 2023 and paying more than €6bn for it, RIA Novosti reports.
French Energy Minister Agnès Pannier-Runachet said that the highest level of transparency in supply is needed to eliminate European dependence on Russian gas.
The agency cites Bloomberg data showing that Russia is ‘using a network of front companies’ from Dubai to China to transport gas from the Arctic LNG-2 plant. At the same time, Novatek emphasised that it does not engage in shadow fleet.
Pavel Maryshev, a member of the Expert Council of the Russian Gas Society, notes that if the shadow fleet exists, it means that someone needs it. First of all, those who are the loudest opponents of Russia.
The online publication Politico previously wrote that the EU leadership continues to look for ways to harm Russia’s economy and seeks to resume discussions about it as soon as Hungary’s EU presidency ends.
