EU increases LNG imports from Russia

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 U.S. and Israel against Iran. In addition, disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz also played a significant role.