These figures only take into account exports “to countries far abroad”, without the CIS, which includes eleven former members of the USSR.
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Would the increasing pressure on Russia, because of its attack in Ukraine, begin to have tangible effects? Russian gas exports “to the lands of the far abroad” fell by 27.6% between January and May 2022 compared to the same period in 2021, i.e. 23.2 billion cubic meters less, the Russian giant Gazprom announced on Telegram on Wednesday June 1. These figures do not take into account the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, which includes eleven countries of the former USSR.
Without explaining the reasons for this drop, Gazprom specifies that it will deliver the gas “in accordance with confirmed orders”. “Gas exports to China through the Power of Siberia pipeline are increasing under a long-term contract between Gazprom and CNPC”mentioned the Russian giant.
This decline in deliveries therefore mainly concerns the European Union. Initially dependent on Russian gas for 40% of its annual imports, the European Union has, since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, found other suppliers in the United States for a third of its purchases. The 27 member countries have also just agreed to reduce their imports of Russian oil by around 90% by the end of the year.
Some countries have also refused to pay in rubles for their purchases of Russian gas, as Russian President Vladimir Putin recently demanded in retaliation for the sanctions imposed on Moscow. Thus, at the end of April, Gazprom announced that it had suspended all its gas deliveries to Bulgaria and Poland. Last explanation, the arrival of Russian forces in gas installations in the region of Luhansk, in the east of Ukraine, caused a drop in deliveries of Russian gas transiting through Ukraine.