EU Paid Near 300% More for Russian LNG in 2024 Compared to Early 2021
EU and Ukraine flags in Brussels 2024. (Source: Courtesy of and © European Union, 2024 - EP)
Not only is the EU importing record levels of LNG from Russia, it is also paying a substantially higher price than before the Ukraine War, new Eurostat data reveal. At the end of 2024 the cost was nearly four times as high as at the beginning of 2021.
The EU’s statistical office, Eurostat, released new data adding another dimension to the continent’s continued purchase of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Not only did the EU import a record amount of LNG from Russia in 2024, as previously reported, but it is also paying significantly higher prices.
Import volumes increased by 18 percent in 2024 compared to the year prior. Now new numbers by Eurostat show that the total cost the EU paid during the final quarter of 2024 increased nearly four-fold compared to four years ago.
Though Russian LNG is now significantly cheaper than during the price spike of 2022, it remains substantially more expensive than before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Twice as high
The average cost the EU paid for Russian LNG imports during Q4 of 2024 was 274% above the prices recorded in Q1 2021. Even across longer timeframes, e.g. comparing the entire year of 2021 to all of 2024, the cost remains about twice as high.
Continue to outpace the financial aid it provides to Ukraine
“In Q4 2024, the volume of liquefied natural gas imported from Russia was 18% higher than in Q1 2021. Due to rising prices its value in this period increased by 274%,” Eurostat remarked in its February 2025 update on trade with Russia.
This contrasts sharply with the unit cost of Russian pipeline gas where prices have returned to the levels of 2021, Eurostat data show.
The EU reduced its imports of Russian pipeline gas by nearly two-thirds since the beginning of the war, but replaced parts of the cutback with its liquefied counterpart.
EU spends more on Russian energy
With the increase in LNG prices, the cost of EU imports of Russian fossil fuels continue to outpace the financial aid it provides to Ukraine.
A recent analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, a Helsinki-based think tank, calculated that Europe as a whole hole spent €21.9 billion on Russian fuels in 2024, compared to financial aid of €18.7 billion allocated by the EU.
The 16th round of EU sanctions against Russia approved by Brussels earlier this week make scant mention of Russian liquefied gas. Across the 266 page document LNG only finds six mentions.
The document states that measures, such as the upcoming transshipment ban, “should not affect imports into the Union or the security of supply of Member States.”
Clearly, supply concerns on the part of the EU continue to outweigh considerations about import volumes and the price the bloc pays for Russian LNG.
