EU to phase out Russian gas imports by 2025 amidst challenges

The EU can manage without Russian gas, asserted Kadri Simson, the commissioner overseeing energy issues, after the EU Council meeting in Luxembourg. She emphasised that although some countries still purchase it in large quantities, she is working with these countries to achieve zero transit by 1 January 2025.

The European Commission aims to phase out Russian gas from the EU by 2025. "The EU can manage without Russian gas, but there are countries that continue to buy it in large quantities," said Kadri Simson after the EU Energy Council meeting in Luxembourg.

She highlighted that, according to Kommersant, the European Commission is now cooperating with these countries to achieve zero transit by 1 January 2025.

The main countries affected are Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, and partly the Czech Republic, which still use Russian resources.

If member states decide to further import Russian gas, even beyond contractual limits, or if they want to sign new agreements for new capacities, I want to make it clear: it is not necessary. It is a political and risky choice, said Kadri Simson.

Ukraine has been stating for months that the agreement with Gazprom for the transit of Russian gas through its territory expires at the end of 2024, and there will be no further negotiations with the invader. This means that gas from the East will not flow to Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, and the Czech Republic via the southern "Friendship" pipeline.

In July, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Nowak stated that Russia is ready to continue supplying gas to Central-Western Europe, but supplies after 2024 depend on Ukraine, recalls "Kommersant".

Resources from Norway and the USA are gradually replacing Russian gas. These countries have become the largest fuel suppliers to the EU, providing 34% and 18% of the gas imports into the EU in the first half of 2024.

In response to the disruptions in the global energy market caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the European Commission launched the REPowerEU plan, aiming to phase out Russian fossil fuel imports gradually.

The initiative started in May 2022, aims to help the EU save energy, diversify its supplies, and produce energy from ecological sources.

The EU commissioner admitted that the volume of Russian gas deliveries to Europe this year might surpass the figures from 2023. In her opinion, increasing deliveries intensified in October, "it's not too late to stop." "Since 2022, we have been reducing this import every year. We cannot allow 2024 to break this trend," she said.

The import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) remains a significant issue. Russia has used European ports to transship gas onto other vessels, transporting the resource to other locations, such as Asia. The 14th package of EU sanctions, adopted in June, forbade this transhipment. However, the restrictions did not lead to a ban on Russian LNG imports.

Nevertheless, according to a report published in September by the European Commission, the share of gas from Russia in EU imports, which had significantly dropped in the last two years, is rising again in 2024.

The share of natural gas in EU imports was 18% from January to June 2024, thus increasing compared to 2023, when this indicator was 15%. Russian LNG was also not fully subjected to sanctions.

Deputy Minister for the Environment stated during the EU energy ministers' meeting in Luxembourg on Monday that the import of Russian energy into the European Union is increasing, and this is a bad sign. In his view, the EU should address this issue. "It's time to find an alternative," he appealed.