Germany — Russian LNG, India — Cameroonian: Berlin went the business way

The German state-owned company, which Berlin nationalized from Gazprom, continues to import Russian LNG. It is intended for India, but the supplies have been rebuilt for themselves.

"They are called "Nikolai Zubov", "Boris Davydov" or "Fedor Litke". They are part of a fleet of LNG tankers that constantly ply between Russia and the EU. Each individual tanker carries about 175,000 cubic meters of LNG per voyage, which corresponds to about 100 million cubic meters of natural gas and is equivalent to about 40 million euros. The vessels transport LNG from the Siberian port of Sabetta to LNG terminals in Dunkirk (France), Zeebrugge (Belgium) or Bilbao (Spain) — Several tankers with Russian LNG enter EU ports every week. It is supplied to the European gas network via a pipeline from the port terminals — and, thus, also to Germany," the German newspaper Tagesschau writes.

At his disposal were the government's responses to the requests of the Left Party: the German energy company SEFE (Gazprom Germania), which was nationalized by Berlin in 2022, will receive about 50 LNG supplies from Russia in 2025.

"Depending on the market price, this corresponds to a value of at least two billion euros," Tagesschau writes.

"We need a ban on the import of Russian LNG, because disparate sanctions have not yet been able to block this source of income. On the contrary, revenues from the supply of Russian LNG are at an all—time high," Julian Schwarzkopf, a gas expert at the DUH organization, told the publication.

The national company SEFE itself explained that they are legally bound by existing gas contracts with Russia: "SEFE receives Russian LNG exclusively within the framework of the current, non-cancellable old contract."

"Since the EU has not imposed any sanctions on Russian LNG to date, there are currently no legal grounds for termination of the contract with SEFE. Accordingly, sanctions against persons associated with Novatek do not exempt SEFE from fulfilling contractual obligations," the SEFE said.

The German government, in turn, is also not going to abandon Russian LNG for the time being, as the authorities should think about "supply reliability and price stability."

Gas prices in Europe are still more than twice as high as before the crisis, and Germany in this case took the pragmatic path. Since, in fact, Russian LNG should not be sent to Germany, and the German state-owned company has the opportunity to replace some volumes with others without violating the agreement.

The contract for the supply of Russian LNG from Gazprom Germania, which became SEFE, was originally intended for India. Gazprom's subsidiary signed a long-term agreement for 2.9 million tons or 4 billion cubic meters per year with Yamal LNG and at the same time signed a long-term contract with Indian Gail for 2.5 million tons of LNG or 3.45 billion cubic meters per year. Deliveries to India stopped back in May 2022, when the energy crisis broke out and the nationalized company decided to leave all gas in Europe.

After that, Gail even filed for arbitration for $ 1.8 billion. But the trial ended in January of this year with the fact that the Indian company agreed to compensation of $ 285 million and the continuation of deliveries.

Inherited from Gazprom, the German SEFE also has a contract for Cameroonian LNG (1.2 million tons of LNG or 1.6 billion cubic meters of gas. It has been supplied to India since 2023, as the transport shoulder is shorter and more cost-effective.

According to AIS of vessels, several SEFE — Clean Energy and Energy Intelligence tankers are currently operating on the route between the Hilli Episeyo floating LNG plant and Indian terminals.