LONDON, April 10. /TASS/. The European Union increased imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia’s Yamal LNG project in the first three months of 2026 by 17% year-on-year, amid supply disruptions from the Middle East, the Financial Times reported, citing analytics firm Kpler.
According to the report, 97% of gas exports from the project during this period were destined for EU countries. The bloc raised its imports of LNG from Yamal to 5 mln tons, at a price of nearly 2.9 bln euro. EU member states accounted for 69 out of 71 LNG shipments from the project, with more than one-third of them occurring in March.
The newspaper noted that the increase in gas imports from Russia is linked to disruptions in fuel supplies to Europe from Qatar due to infrastructure damage caused by hostilities during the conflict involving the United States and Israel against Iran. In addition, disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz also played a significant role.
According to data from the European think tank Bruegel, Russian LNG supplies to the EU reached a historic high in March amid the suspension of shipments from the Middle East due to the military conflict and the impending entry into force of a ban on Russian fuel under short-term contracts.
At the end of January, the EU Council formally approved a ban on imports of Russian LNG from January 1, 2027, and pipeline gas from September 30, 2027. Some restrictions will be introduced earlier: imports of LNG under short-term contracts will be banned from April 25, 2026, while short-term contracts for pipeline gas supplies must be completed by June 17, 2026.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that, given the European Union’s intention to fully phase out Russian gas, Russia may itself initiate an early withdrawal from the European market and redirect supplies to other, more interested buyers.