EU spent 8.7 billion euros on Russian Arctic LNG in ten months of 2026

The European Union spent an estimated 8.7 billion euros on Russian liquefied natural gas from the Arctic in the first ten months of 2026 — 21 percent more than its bill for all of 2025 — in the final stretch before Brussels bans the imports on January 1, 2027.

The figures come from an analysis by the environmental campaign group Urgewald, using tanker-tracking data from the energy intelligence firm Kpler. EU ports received 12.89 million tonnes of LNG from Russia's Yamal project between January and October, up 6.3 percent year-on-year, accounting for 81 percent of the project's recorded global deliveries. A Yamal cargo docked in Europe roughly every 1.7 days.

Brussels will ban Russian LNG imports from New Year's Day 2027, including purchases under existing long-term contracts. With 50 days remaining at publication, purchases are still rising. In October, deliveries fell 11 percent from September while the estimated value of those deliveries rose 2.6 percent, to 839 million euros — the gap between shrinking volumes and growing invoices explained by a European gas benchmark that has climbed to 86.79 euros per megawatt-hour, more than double its level before the US-Israel war on Iran.

France was the main destination for October shipments, taking 5.37 million tonnes, with Spain, the Netherlands and Portugal following. Belgium received the most over the ten months, with 3.06 million tonnes unloaded at Zeebrugge across 42 cargoes — though not a single Yamal cargo was recorded at the Belgian terminal in August, September or October.

The trade's economics are geographic. Yamal relies on specialized Arc7 ice-class tankers, and European ports let ships unload close to the production site and turn around quickly. Without EU access, Russia faces longer voyages, higher transport costs and a Northern Sea Route that closes in winter — which is why Urgewald argues the ban would undermine the economics of Arctic LNG exports rather than simply redirect them to Asia, where China, South Korea and Taiwan took 18.6 percent of deliveries.

In other words, the sanction arrives only after member states have spent years filling the Kremlin's account at premium prices. 'We can end Russian LNG imports on 1 January,' said Urgewald sanctions campaigner Alexander Kirk. 'But switching suppliers still leaves European households exposed to gas price spikes and political pressure from abroad.'

The gas kept flowing to Europe while Europe's leaders were excluded from the war talks deciding the continent's security. From January, the same tankers will sail east at a discount.