The European Commission has revealed a plan to completely abandon Russian energy sources

The European Commission has published a plan to completely abandon Russian energy sources.

This was reported by the press service of the European Commission.

Thanks to the REPowerEU plan, launched in May 2022, the European Union reduced the share of Russian gas imports from 45% to 19%. This helped reduce energy dependence on Russia. However, in 2024, Russian gas imports began to increase again.

So the European Commission presented a roadmap to completely end the EUʼs dependence on Russian energy, while maintaining the stability of Europeʼs energy market.

The new strategy calls for a gradual phase-out of Russian oil, gas and nuclear energy, replacing them with safer sources. By the end of 2025, each EU country must present a national plan on how it will phase out Russian energy resources.

At the same time, the EU will work to move more quickly to green energy and to establish supplies from different countries. The bloc wants to avoid dependence on one country and prevent disruptions or price spikes.

Hereʼs what the roadmap includes:

• Complete cessation of Russian gas imports by the end of 2027. Russian gas will be better tracked on European markets, and new contracts with Russian suppliers will be banned, as will spot deals.
• The EU will impose new restrictions on Russiaʼs shadow fleet, which are oil tankers that Russia uses to circumvent Western sanctions.
• Restrictions on new contracts involving Euratom for the supply of uranium, enriched uranium, and other nuclear materials from Russia.

A gradual rejection of Russian energy will reduce the risks to the security of the European Union. And an independent energy system will contribute to the economic growth of the bloc. Therefore, next month the European Commission wants to submit legislative initiatives to implement the roadmap.

• Although Russian pipeline gas supplies have declined sharply since 2022, the EU increased its imports of Russian liquefied natural gas last year. That is, in 2024, Russia will still provide 19% of the EUʼs total gas and LNG supplies.
• Unlike oil, the EU has not imposed sanctions on Russian gas imports. Hungary has promised to block any restrictions on Russian energy, as such decisions require unanimous support from EU member states. Some other governments are also reluctant to approve a ban on Russian LNG imports until the EU finds reliable alternatives.

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