The EU paid €23 billion (almost $26 billion) for Russian energy last year despite reducing oil and gas imports and completely stopping coal imports since 2022, said Dan Jørgensen, the EU commissioner for energy, during a debate in the European Parliament.
The European Commission plans to gradually remove Russian gas from EU markets by 2027 and all other sources of Russian energy by 2030, Jørgensen said, according to Radio Liberty.
The EU is working to reduce its energy dependence on Russia, which was its largest gas supplier before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Although Russian gas still flows to Europe, its share has dropped significantly.
Jørgensen said Russian coal imports have stopped completely, but oil and gas are still flowing into the bloc.
“Until 2022, half of the coal we imported into the EU came from Russia. We have completely stopped these imports,” Jørgensen said.
“The share of oil has decreased from 27% to 3%. And finally, regarding gas: from 45% of our gas coming from Russia in 2022, we’re down to 13% today. Still, last year we paid Russia €23 billion for energy imports,” Jørgensen added.
According to him, the European Commission recommended submitting the first plans for phasing out Russian energy resources this year.
“Our goal is to minimize the negative impact on energy prices, stabilize energy markets, and ensure legal certainty. That’s why we will move forward step by step,” Jørgensen said.
The EU will also strengthen control over illegal oil entering the bloc through Russia’s “shadow fleet” of tankers – a network of old, covert oil tankers that transport Russian oil without proper tracking, insurance or regulation.
These decisions are part of a broader plan to reshape trade relations with Russia due to security risks, Jørgensen said.
“Given this major policy shift, we see no viable scenario for the future use of Nord Stream for transporting Russian energy to Europe,” he said.
“This aligns with the interests of our economic security… We are taking a number of steps, and they all lead us in the same direction – toward safer, more sustainable, and diversified energy supplies.”
In September 2022, explosions rocked the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines, which run along the bottom of the Baltic Sea between Russia and Germany.
The Nord Stream was completely disabled, while the Nord Stream 2 had not been put into operation by German authorities due to the war in Ukraine at the time of the explosion.
However, Russia continues to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the EU. As of late 2024, Russia was the second-largest LNG supplier to the EU after the United States.
Further increase in Russian LNG supply is possible, yet it is closely tied to the potential lifting of US sanctions against the Arctic LNG 2 project.
However, whether Europe remain unclear as it will be another competitor for American LNG in Europe, according to a Kyiv Post opinion piece penned by Andrii Ursta, Dixi Group’s general manager for energy markets development.
On May 20, the EU approved its 17th sanctions package against Russia, targeting nearly 200 shadow fleet vessels and Russia’s “hybrid threats.”
The same day, Ukraine’s foreign minister asked the EU to go beyond the 17th package of sanctions against Russia and, among other restrictions, cut the Russian oil price cap by half to $30.