EU Imports Record 9.97 Million Tons of Russian LNG in First Half of 2026

The European Union imported 9.97 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas from Russia's Yamal LNG facility in the first half of 2026, according to data compiled by Kpler and reported by ZeroHedge. The shipments were valued at €5.96 billion, or about $6.82 billion, and represented a 16 percent increase from the same period in 2025.

European buyers absorbed more than 97 percent of Yamal's total output during those six months.

Overall EU imports of Russian LNG rose 11 percent year over year, while imports of Russian pipeline gas increased 7 percent. The EU's ban on short-term Russian LNG imports took effect on April 25, 2026, under the REPowerEU Gas Regulation. Exemptions in the regulation have permitted continued purchases ahead of a complete ban scheduled for January 1, 2027.

Short-term legacy pipeline gas contracts were allowed until June 17, 2026, and long-term pipeline contracts remain permitted until September 30, 2027. France, Belgium, and Spain were the largest buyers of LNG from the Yamal facility. Hungary remained the largest purchaser of Russian pipeline gas delivered through the TurkStream pipeline.

Hungary and Slovakia continued to receive Russian crude oil via the southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline under temporary exemptions from the EU embargo on Russian seaborne oil. A Russian airstrike had damaged the pipeline in Ukraine and halted flows to both countries for nearly three months, forcing reliance on emergency reserves and alternative routes such as Croatia's Adria pipeline.

In response, Hungary and Slovakia agreed to build a new 127-kilometer pipeline to transport refined oil products between their major refineries.