Financing Putin's war: the European countries that import the most gas from Russia

In recent years I have been denouncing Spain's purchases of Russian gas, but my articles have not had much impact.

Sánchez increases the percentage of Russian gas imported by Spain: it already exceeds that from the US
Sánchez increases the purchase of Russian gas while prohibiting its extraction in Spain

Fortunately, it seems that there are increasing voices denouncing what I have been pointing out here: that the purchase of this gas serves to finance Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. In this matter, I think it is fair to be precise when pointing out the countries most addicted to these imports, since not all of Europe buys Russian gas.

To determine the figures, a very useful source is the European LNG Tracker of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), but it has a drawback: it only refers to liquefied natural gas, so it exclusively collects data from countries with access to the sea, so I have had to search for the information through different means, which I will indicate below. The data corresponding to 2024 are the following (I limit myself to indicating the data relating to member countries of the European Union):

• France: 8.49 billion cubic meters through imports of liquefied natural gas, according to IEEFA data. Russia is its second largest supplier of this gas, with 34% of total imports.
• Austria: 7 billion cubic metres via pipelines, according to Enerdata. It is one of the European countries most dependent on Russian gas: 83% of the gas it consumes comes from Russia. Russian gas supplies to Austria were stopped by the Russian gas company Gazprom on 16 November. The issue has become a topic of political debate in the country. The FPÖ party wants to resume imports of Russian gas.
• Spain: 6.38 billion cubic meters through imports of liquefied natural gas, according to IEEFA data. Russia is its largest supplier of this gas, with 35% of total imports. It should be noted that while it imports Russian gas, the government of Pedro Sánchez prohibits the extraction of natural gas in Spain, despite the fact that its resources could supply natural gas to Spain for 40 years.
• Germany: 5.66 billion cubic meters of LNG, according to Kpler data published by TVP World. It should be noted that Germany’s imports of Russian gas are not reflected in the IEEFA report because much of that gas comes from imports from other European countries to Russia.
• Hungary: 4.5 billion cubic metres via pipeline, according to Reuters. Two-thirds of Hungary's gas imports come from Russia. Far from reducing its dependence on Russia, Viktor Orbán's government is seeking to increase it: it plans to import 6.7 billion cubic metres in 2025, which would put it ahead of Spain and Germany. The paradox is that Hungary is buying more Russian gas than it needs, taking advantage of an agreement with the Russian state-owned company Gazprom. It should be noted that Hungary is the only country on this list that has not sent any military aid to Ukraine.
• Belgium: 3.55 billion cubic meters through imports of liquefied natural gas, according to IEEFA data. Russia is its largest supplier of this gas, with 44% of total imports.
• Slovakia: 3 billion cubic meters via pipeline, according to data from Pipeline Technology Journal. In January, Ukraine cut off Russian gas supplies to Slovakia through its territory, but the government of Robert Fico has restarted Russian gas imports via Türkiye.
• Netherlands: 1.8 billion cubic meters through imports of liquefied natural gas, according to IEEFA data.
• Portugal: 300 million cubic meters through imports of liquefied natural gas, according to data from IEEFA.
• Greece: 270 million cubic meters through imports of liquefied natural gas, according to IEEFA data.
• Finland: 150 million cubic meters through imports of liquefied natural gas, according to IEEFA data.
• Italy: 90 million cubic meters through imports of liquefied natural gas, according to IEEFA data.

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Photo: TASS.