Belgium, France and Spain were the main LNG importing countries from 2022 to June 2025, according to a new Greenpeace study.
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The Kremlin reaped around €8.10bn in tax revenues from European energy companies importing Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) between 2022 and 2024, according to new research published on Tuesday by Greenpeace.
The EU moved to close the tap to Russian pipeline gas after Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine, but shipments of LNG remained at 12.8 billion cubic meters (bcm) in the first half of the year, a figure 67% higher compared to four years ago.
With the $9.5 billion profit tax revenues from Yamal LNG, the primary Russian LNG exporter to Europe and Asia, the research estimates that Russia could buy 9.4 million 152mm artillery shells — roughly three years of Russia’s current three million-round annual production output — 270,000 Shahed attack drones, or 2,658 battle tanks.
Between 2022 and 2024 Yamal LNG gained an estimated $40 billion having contracts with several European headquartered energy companies like TotalEnergies, Engie, Shell, Naturgy and SEFE.
France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and the UK were the major recipients of Russian LNG, the study reveals, all with contracts running until 2038 and 2041.
These ongoing contracts are, however, due to be broken as the EU seeks to phase out LNG imports from Russia by 2027, a controversial decision currently being discussed by heads of State, which risks legal action by Gazprom against European companies.
Belgium, France and Spain were the main Russian LNG importers from 2022 to June 2025, according to the report, with Belgian port Zeebrugge being the largest import hub for Russian LNG in the EU.
Shifting LNG dependencies
Washington exported 52.7bcm of LNG to the EU in the first half of 2025 alone, according to the analysis, a figure poised to spike as the bloc signed a trade deal with the US where the EU is contractually obliged to buy around €213bn of energy products per year, including LNG.
“For Europe to escape the LNG trap and increase its independence from Trump and Putin, it must rapidly end its use of fossil gas and fully transition to an energy system based on home-grown renewable energy,” the Greenpeace report said.