MOSCOW, March 11. /TASS/. The European Union reduced imports of pipeline gas from Russia five-fold in 2023, while its purchases of Russian LNG grew by 38% in the same period compared with 2021 to 15 mln tons, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in an interview with the Expert magazine.

"Amid a sharp drop in imports of Russian gas via pipeline (it fell roughly five-fold in 2021-2023) the EU boosted purchases of LNG from Russia in the same period to over 15 mln tones, which is 38% higher than in 2021. A reduction of consumption and deindustrialization is a notable factor of Europe’s abandoning Russian gas," he said.

EU countries are gradually cutting imports of other energy resources from Russia as well, Novak said, adding that Russia’s share in the EU imports of gas decreased from 45% in 2021 to less than 15% in 2023, from 27% to 4% on oil, and from 50% to 9% on petroleum products.

That said, gas consumption slipped by 7% in the EU last year compared with the previous year to around 330 bln cubic meters. The decrease compared with 2021 totaled around 20%.