Europe is not looking for approval

Alexey Belogoryev, Research and Development Director of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to Kommersant FM on the prospects and consequences of the proposed ban on contracting Russian LNG in the EU and the possibility of redirecting it to other markets.

For Russia, the final loss of European customers may become a problem, Alexey Belogoryev believes:

"The EU authorities can simply impose an embargo on Russian LNG. This will also be a force majeure event. This opportunity will appear starting in 2026. Russian liquefied natural gas can be replaced primarily by American plants. This is a significant problem for Russia, because redirecting these volumes, even current ones, is not a trivial task. There is a Chinese market, but it is limited in terms of available niches. Outside of China, there are only markets in South and Southeast Asia. But they are very competitive. It is certainly necessary to go to them, but there is no progress."

"This is largely due to logistics to Northeastern Europe, where, in fact, the LNG flow mainly goes. The distance for transportation is three times less than, for example, to India. This saves transportation costs and requires a smaller fleet. And now we have a serious shortage of gas carriers for new plants.

If we assume that all European LNG will have to be redirected to India, Thailand, or even more so to China, then about three times as many ships will be needed as there are now. And this is a very significant problem," the expert continues.