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Eight EU countries continue to import Russian gas, EC says

European Commission Spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen emphasized that the EC has no information about the final destination of these supplies

BRUSSELS, September 19. /TASS/. Eight European Union countries continue to import Russian natural gas, European Commission (EC) Spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said at a press briefing in Brussels.

"Member states who import Russian gas, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, mainly […] through TurkStream, Greece, Slovakia, Hungary," she noted.

That said, the spokeswoman emphasized that the EC has no information about the final destination of these supplies.

"We know where the gas enters the EU system, but we do not know where it stays and where it's ultimately consumed," she added.

Earlier, the EC announced initiatives on rejecting Russian gas. The roadmap indicated the intention to ban new deals on importing Russian gas and spot contracts by the end of 2025. The EC also wants to phase out purchases of pipeline and liquefied natural gas from Russia by the end of 2027. Final legally binding proposals must be approved by EU member states in the European Council. Hungary and Slovakia said that they will vote against this initiative.

In May 2022, the European Union launched the REPowerEU program aimed at eliminating dependence on Russian gas by 2027. However, the cost of Russian LNG purchases by the EU has increased almost 4.6 times over the past three years due to rising prices. Before 2022, Russian gas accounted for 40% of total EU gas imports, falling to around 15% by 2023, but rising again in 2024 to nearly 19%, sparking concern in Brussels.

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