The countries most reliant on Russian gas
EU energy ministers hold crisis talks after Moscow starts cutting supplies
Energy ministers from across the EU are holding emergency talks after Russia halted gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland last week.
Officials gathered in Brussels yesterday as the “bloc strives for a united response” to Moscow’s demand that European countries “pay for Russian gas in rubles” amid biting sanctions – or “face their supply being cut off” too, Reuters reported.
Both Bulgaria and Poland had “already planned to stop using Russian gas this year and say they can cope with the stoppage”, the news agency continued. But the cut-off has “raised fears that other EU countries, including Europe’s gas-reliant economic powerhouse Germany, could be next”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Gas guzzlers
Russia’s state-owned energy giant Gazprom is the EU’s biggest gas supplier, and Germany is the most dependent on this supply among the bloc’s most developed economies. According to latest data from the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), Russia supplies 49% of the gas imported by Germany.
Russian gas also accounts for almost half (46%) of Italy’s supply.
The UK is in a “different position”, drawing “half of its gas supply from domestic sources” and importing “mostly from Norway and also Qatar”, said Statisa.
France also depends on Norwegian gas, which accounts for 35% of the national supply, compared with 24% from Russia. Nor is Spain “on the list of Russia’s major customers”, with Madrid instead relying heavily on gas from Algeria and the US, the data site reported.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
But some smaller European countries are almost entirely reliant on Russian gas deliveries, including North Macedonia, Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina, ACER’s data shows.
Finland and Latvia also get more than 90% of their gas from Russia, while Serbia clocks in at 89%. Dependence is far lower in the Netherlands and Romania, at around 10%, while Ireland does not rely on Russian gas at all.
And Ukraine has not used Russian gas since 2015.
Currency conversion
With a string of countries that depend on Russian supplies “facing gas payment deadlines later this month”, EU member states are pushing the bloc to “clarify whether companies can keep buying the fuel without breaching” Western sanctions against Moscow, Reuters reported.
As Russia is hit by a freeze on overseas cash reserves, Moscow has demanded that foreign buyers “deposit euros or dollars into an account at the privately owned Russian bank Gazprombank, which would convert them into roubles”.
The European Commission has warned member states that “complying with Russia's scheme could breach EU sanctions”, the news agency continued. But the commission muddied the waters by also “suggesting countries could make sanctions-compliant payments if they declare the payment complete once it has been made in euros and before its conversion”.
Divided front
EU leaders appear split on “how soon” they could “wind down dependence on Russian energy supplies”, said the BBC’s business reporter Michael Race. As the threat of a Russian gas cut-off looms, member states are facing “two main challenges”.
The first is how to pay for Russian gas without breaching sanctions, while the longer-term challenge is “how to source and develop alternative supplies to move away from reliance on Russia”.
Countries including Germany have claimed they “would be able to weather a Russian oil ban by the end of 2022”, and appear to “back tougher sanctions” against Moscow, Race reported. But Hungary “opposes such a move” and “would not back measures that could endanger supplies”.
The war in Ukraine has left Europe at a “crossroads” over energy supplies, said France 24. And as the conflict continues, the question of whether “the continent can wean itself off Russian gas” remains unanswered.
No Russian
In “shutting gas to Poland and Bulgaria”, Moscow “made an aggressive move that may draw yet more European sanctions”, said The Economist.
In a statement last week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU’s response to the “provocation” would be “immediate, united and coordinated”.
But threatening gas supplies is “the most aggressive economic sanction Russia has imposed on the West to date”, said The Economist’s economics editor Henry Curr.
“There is an extent to which this is all part of a strategic game that is going on between Europe and Russia,” Curr argued. “Clearly, the Russians think there is some strategic advantage to be had here, and it could mean that more is coming.”
-
The Pentagon faces an uncertain future with Trump
Talking Point The president-elect has nominated conservative commentator Pete Hegseth to lead the Defense Department
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
This is what you should know about State Department travel advisories and warnings
In Depth Stay safe on your international adventures
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
'All Tyson-Paul promised was spectacle and, in the end, that's all we got'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Has the Taliban banned women from speaking?
Today's Big Question 'Rambling' message about 'bizarre' restriction joins series of recent decrees that amount to silencing of Afghanistan's women
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Cuba's energy crisis
The Explainer Already beset by a host of issues, the island nation is struggling with nationwide blackouts
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published
-
Putin's fixation with shamans
Under the Radar Secretive Russian leader, said to be fascinated with occult and pagan rituals, allegedly asked for blessing over nuclear weapons
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Chimpanzees are dying of human diseases
Under the radar Great apes are vulnerable to human pathogens thanks to genetic similarity, increased contact and no immunity
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Deaths of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies hang over Sydney's Mardi Gras
The Explainer Police officer, the former partner of TV presenter victim, charged with two counts of murder after turning himself in
By Austin Chen, The Week UK Published
-
Quiz of The Week: 24 February - 1 March
Puzzles and Quizzes Have you been paying attention to The Week's news?
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Will mounting discontent affect Iran election?
Today's Big Question Low turnout is expected in poll seen as crucial test for Tehran's leadership
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Sweden clears final NATO hurdle with Hungary vote
Speed Read Hungary's parliament overwhelmingly approved Sweden's accession to NATO
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published