Europe has already spent a record €7.3 billion on Russian LNG since the beginning of the year

In the first eight months of 2026, European countries paid a record €7.28 billion for liquefied natural gas from Russia’s “Yamal LNG” project. As a result, Europe’s spending on Russian LNG in less than a year has already exceeded the total for all of 2025.

According to an investigation by the German nongovernmental organization Urgewald, from January through the end of August, European ports received 156 shipments of gas from “Yamal LNG” totaling 11.39 million metric tons. During the same period last year, 142 shipments totaling 10.34 million metric tons were delivered—a decrease of 10.1%.

The analytics firm Kpler calculated that from January 1 to September 5, European ports received 88.9% of all Russian LNG exported from “Yamal LNG.” In 2025, Europe’s share stood at 78.2%.

According to Kpler analyst Charles Costerrouz, European buyers are ramping up purchases ahead of the ban on Russian LNG imports, which is set to take effect in January 2027. A significant portion of the shipments is carried out under long-term contracts, while imports under short-term agreements were banned in the EU back in April.

Analysts note that the EU’s total spending on Russian LNG for 2025 was already exceeded in just eight months and five days of 2026.

The rise in spending was driven by both high gas prices in Europe and increased supply volumes. An additional factor was the disruption of a key energy route through the Strait of Hormuz due to the war in the Middle East.

Source: Euronews, Urgewald investigation.

Moldova has signed contracts for most of the gas needed for the 2026–2027 heating season and does not plan to return to the old energy supply model, which relied on Russian gas.

The European Union is facing difficulties in implementing its plan to completely phase out Russian oil and gas. EU member states are not investing enough in diversifying energy supplies, developing renewable energy, and modernizing power grids.