Russian gas imports climb 17% despite phase-out

Fayard, a shipyard on the Danish island of Funen, dry-docks and repairs tankers that carry Russian liquefied natural gas. No EU rule prohibits this. The yard checks every vessel against sanctions lists and turns away listed ships (WirtschaftsWoche). Denmark's prime minister has called the situation "incomprehensible," but has no legal tool to stop it before EU rules change.

That gap between political intent and legal reality defines the state of European energy sanctions. Russia still supplied 17.3% of EU LNG imports in the first quarter of 2026 (Eurostat). Those imports rose 11% year on year in early 2026, then climbed another 17% after new restrictions took effect in March, according to ACER (the EU's energy regulator) monitoring data (Euronews). Europe is officially phasing out Russian gas. Actual volumes are moving in the opposite direction.

Why the Phase-Out Lets More Gas Through

LNG — natural gas chilled into liquid so it can travel by ship instead of through a pipeline — depends on a long service chain: tankers, dry-docking, hull repair, port calls, insurance, terminal storage, and regasification (turning the liquid back into gas for pipelines). The EU's 14th sanctions package, adopted in June 2024, closed one link in that chain: it banned EU terminals from reloading Russian LNG for shipment to countries outside the bloc (Council of the EU). It did not ban Russian LNG bought for European consumption, and it left every ship service untouched (EEAS).

New contracts for Russian gas were barred from March 2026. But legacy contracts (deals signed before the ban) keep running until stricter deadlines in 2027, with a full import ban not expected before January of that year (Euronews). That exemption window explains the rising volumes: buyers with existing deals have every incentive to take deliveries while the legal route stays open, and some are likely stocking up before the deadline closes. Fayard sells ship maintenance, not gas. It operates in the space EU law deliberately left open.

The Loophole Has More Than One Address

Fayard is not the only gap. Belgium's Zeebrugge terminal, run by Fluxys, provides storage, loading, and regasification services. Those services can handle Russian LNG entering the EU for domestic use — precisely the route the sanctions left alone (Fluxys, Council of the EU). A shipyard keeps the tanker seaworthy. A terminal turns its cargo into usable gas. Both sit outside the sanctions.

The politics split along commercial lines. France is Europe's largest LNG entry point, with 249 TWh of LNG imports in 2025 covering 56% of French gas supply, according to Les Énergies Renouvelables. TotalEnergies holds a purchase contract with Russia's Yamal LNG project running until 2032 (Executive Digest). Spain, with six regasification plants and the EU's largest LNG entry capacity, has port operators arguing publicly that a fast ban risks higher prices and greater dependence on US suppliers (upday Spain). France and Spain have money at stake in a slower timeline. The Baltic states want the opposite: a faster full ban, arguing that remaining imports still fund Russia's war economy (english.nv.ua).

Brussels has six months before the January 2027 deadline. The test of seriousness won't be another political declaration. It will show up in specifics: whether legacy contracts lose their exemption early, whether terminal operators face new obligations on cargoes of Russian gas, and whether a shipyard on the Danish island of Funen can still service the tankers that carry them.