Russian Gas Rises Before Ban

On the Danish island of Funen, Fayard does the unglamorous work that keeps the gas trade moving. The shipyard dry-docks and repairs tankers carrying Russian liquefied natural gas. It checks vessels against sanctions lists and turns away any listed ship, as WirtschaftsWoche has reported. Beyond that, there is no EU rule stopping the work.

Denmark's prime minister has called the situation "incomprehensible". In political terms, it is. In legal terms, it is perfectly possible. That is the uncomfortable story of Europe's energy sanctions: the ambition is to phase out Russian gas, but the machinery of EU law still leaves routes open for it to arrive.

Russia supplied 17.3% of EU LNG imports in the first quarter of 2026, according to Eurostat. Those imports rose 11% year on year in early 2026, then climbed another 17% after new restrictions took effect in March, according to monitoring data from ACER, the EU's energy regulator, cited by Euronews. The policy points in one direction. The cargoes are moving in another.

Why the Phase-Out Lets More Gas Through

LNG is natural gas chilled into liquid form so it can be shipped rather than moved by pipeline. That makes it less visible than a pipeline contract but no less dependent on infrastructure: tankers, dry-docking, hull repairs, port calls, insurance, terminal storage and regasification, the process that turns the liquid back into gas for pipeline networks.

The EU's 14th sanctions package, adopted in June 2024, closed only one part of that chain. It banned EU terminals from reloading Russian LNG for shipment onwards to countries outside the bloc (Council of the EU). It did not ban Russian LNG bought for use inside Europe, and it left ship services untouched (EEAS).

New contracts for Russian gas have been barred since March 2026. Existing contracts, signed before the ban, can keep running until tighter deadlines in 2027, with a full import ban not expected before January of that year (Euronews). That window helps explain the rise in volumes. Buyers with legacy deals have a clear reason to take delivery while the route remains legal, and some are likely building stocks before the deadline closes. Fayard is not selling gas. It is selling maintenance in a space EU law has left open.

The Loophole Has More Than One Address

Fayard is only one part of the chain. Belgium's Zeebrugge terminal, run by Fluxys, offers storage, loading and regasification services. Those services can handle Russian LNG entering the EU for domestic use, the very route the sanctions did not close (Fluxys, Council of the EU). A shipyard keeps the tanker moving. A terminal turns the cargo into usable gas. Both remain outside the ban.

The split inside Europe follows the money as much as the principle. 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 has 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 warning publicly that a rapid ban could mean higher prices and deeper dependence on US suppliers (upday Spain).

For Ireland, this is not an abstract Brussels argument about energy purity. The State has no LNG import terminal of its own and remains exposed to the wider European gas market through price, supply and infrastructure choices made elsewhere. When France or Spain slows the timetable, the effects are felt beyond their own ports.

The Baltic states want the opposite: a faster full ban, arguing that every remaining cargo still helps finance Russia's war economy (english.nv.ua). Their case is direct. If the EU says Russian gas must go, the remaining exceptions cannot be treated as technical footnotes.

Brussels has six months before the January 2027 deadline. The test will not be another declaration of intent. It will be whether legacy contracts lose their protection early, whether terminal operators are given new obligations on Russian cargoes, and whether a shipyard on Funen can still service the tankers that carry them.