(MENAFN) Greece has increased its purchases of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) this year, despite the European Union's commitment to reducing its energy reliance on Moscow, as reported by a Greek news outlet on Thursday.
According to the report, these deliveries have caused the share of Russian gas on the Greek market to rise from 35.7 percent to 45 percent in the first nine months of the year. This level is now comparable to what it was before the conflict in Ukraine and the subsequent Western sanctions on Moscow.
During January to September, Russia emerged as Greece's second-largest supplier of LNG, with the United States being the top supplier. However, in the most recent month, Russian LNG deliveries constituted a significant 72 percent of Greece's total gas imports.
Kathimerini suggests that this surge in Russian LNG imports is a consequence of Moscow's strategy of offering low-cost energy supplies, aimed at attracting more buyers and mitigating revenue losses after Russia had to reduce its pipeline gas deliveries to the EU.
The decreases in pipeline gas deliveries to the EU were the result of a confluence of factors, including the Western sanctions that were imposed in connection with the situation in Ukraine. Furthermore, technical challenges also played a role in the reduction, particularly related to the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines that occurred in the preceding year. These factors combined to necessitate a decrease in the flow of pipeline gas from Russia to the European Union.
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