They can, but don't want: Russian LNG has not been replaced in Europe

Alexey Belogoryev, Research and Development Director of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented on the force majeure’s prospects on the long-term Russian LNG supply contracts to Finland and Sweden due to new EU sanctions to the Prime news agency.

"For Finland, Russia has been the main and even the only LNG supplier for a long time. But the situation changed dramatically in 2023... The USA, Norway and even Algeria provided additional volume. Sweden uses a small amount of Russian LNG (about 70 thousand tons per year, that is the carrying capacity of one large tanker) and mainly as bunkering fuel. And Russia is far from the only supplier. Norway and the Netherlands are no less large exporters," the agency interlocutor said.

"Therefore, it is not so difficult to replace Russia in Finland and Sweden. The fact that this has not happened so far is due, I believe, to the availability of long-term contracts and favorable price conditions," Belogoryev also explained.