Russian state gas producer Gazprom continued to supply natural gas to Europe via Ukraine in accordance with requests from European consumers, the company said on Tuesday (12), as quoted by the Interfax news agency.
Orders stood at 74.5 million cubic meters as of April 12, Interfax reported, citing Ukraine’s pipeline operator.
The European Union already plans to reduce consumption of Russian natural gas this year as it prepares for a complete break with its biggest energy supplier, but finding alternative sources poses a logistical challenge.
According to pre-war data, Europe imported around 40% of its natural gas from Russia. Germany, the bloc’s biggest economy, is particularly exposed to the conflict: Russia supplies about half of its natural gas. Austria, Hungary, Slovenia and Slovakia get about 60% of their gas from Russia, while Poland gets 80%.
Last week, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the EU would impose more sanctions on Russia beyond the latest package, likely including measures against Russian oil imports. “Now we have to look at oil and the revenues Russia gets from fossil fuels,” von der Leyen said.
Among the measures, a “task force” was agreed in which the United States will work to supply Europe with at least 15 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas in 2022 in partnership with other nations, the White House said last week.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba welcomed the planned new EU sanctions against Russia, but said an embargo on Russian oil and gas was needed “to stop” Vladimir Putin.
“I appreciate the strengthening of the 5th EU sanctions package: bans on Russian coal, ships accessing EU ports and road transport operators,” he wrote on Twitter. “But it will take a gas/oil embargo and a withdrawal of all Russian banks from SWIFT to stop Putin. Tough times call for tough decisions.”
Despite sanctions imposed by European countries on Russia due to the war in Ukraine, the country led by Putin said it would not cut gas supplies to “hostile countries” immediately, even with the new decree that requires payment in rubles from April 1 — contested by countries like Germany.
*With information from CNN and Reuters
Source: CNN Brasil
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