EU sanctions had a "disruptive" effect

Alexey Belogoryev, Research and Development Director of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to Kommersant FM radio station on the alleged declaration of force majeure on SEFE's long-term contact for gas imports from the Yamal LNG plant.

The German Ministry of Economy and Energy clarified that the reason for the termination of purchases will be the 19th package of sanctions and the directive on the Russian energy resources abandonment.

Now other foreign buyers can turn to such tools, Alexey Belogoryev believes.:

"Gas was supplied to European countries. Although SEFE itself is a German company, Germany does not directly purchase Russian LNG. Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Spain, and partly Greece are buying it. In fact, the first four countries are major buyers in Western Europe. Maybe Germany gets something from these supplies, but it's quite difficult to track it. This is the whole problem: given the expected ban, in fact, an embargo on the import of Russian energy resources to the EU, European companies, including SEFE, are losing their main market, where they supplied gas from Yamal LNG. This is also a significant logistical problem for them.

Since 2022, prices in long-term contracts and their reliability in terms of the interests of gas suppliers have decreased significantly. At least in Europe, there have already been judicial precedents on pipeline supplies, when not only fines were not paid on the basis of the "take it or pay it" principle, but, on the contrary, they were charged against Gazprom. It was expected.

Other companies in the EU that have contracts with Yamal LNG will follow the path of SEFE. Maybe they will save something, because some of this gas, in principle, could be redirected to other regions. But, most likely, they will refuse these imports.

For the Russian project, this means a big problem in concluding new contracts, reorienting supplies to other regions, primarily to Southeast Asia, maybe to China, although this is not the most convenient logistical route. This is not a trivial task, because the LNG market is currently oversupplied, and there is increasing competition for these Asian markets."