The European Union has drafted a legislative proposal to authorize member states to ban Russian and Belarusian companies from booking capacity on gas pipelines in the bloc in a bid to reduce further the EU’s intake of Russian gas. The proposal comes amid calls to ban Russian LNG imports even as these hit a record this year. So far this year, Russian pipeline gas supplies to the European Union have trended significantly lower than last year. Per Eurostat data cited by the FT, Russian gas imports in the third quarter of this year accounted for 12% of the total, which although substantially lower than the more than 40% share Russian gas had before the war in the Ukraine is still a not insignificant amount. The EU has stipulated that it should end all imports of Russian oil, gas, and coal by 2027.

Source: The North Africa Journal December 08, 2023 12:12 UTC