Despite public declarations that economic ties with Russia will be severed, Europe has paid an estimated €7.28 billion for liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Moscow's Arctic Yamal project in just over eight months this year, already surpassing the €7.3 billion spent in all of 2025.
The figures were revealed by an investigation by Urgewald, an NGO that exposes the financial institutions and companies backing climate-damaging projects.
During the first eight months of 2026, European ports received 156 Yamal LNG cargoes carrying 11.39 million tonnes, compared with 142 cargoes and 10.34 million tonnes between January and August 2025 – an increase of 10.1% year on year, according to the German NGO Urgewald.
Real-time data from the market intelligence firm Kpler reveals that between 1 January and 5 September this year, European ports swallowed 88.9% of Yamal's total global exports, up from 78.2% in 2025.
"This is a sign that EU buyers are maximising imports ahead of the January 2027 ban. Most of these volumes are from existing long-term contracts, as LNG from short-term contracts was banned in April this year," Charles Costerrouse, Kpler's energy analyst, told Euronews.
