FT: Germany bans ports from accepting tankers with Russian gas

Germany’s Ministry of Economy has instructed state-owned import terminals to refuse to accept liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies from Russia. The Financial Times reported this, citing a letter from the Ministry.

In a letter received by the editorial board and dated November 6, the German Ministry of Economy orders Deutsche Energy Terminal “not to accept any supplies of Russian LNG” after the agency was informed of the planned supply.

In order to safeguard the “prevailing public interest,” the ministry issued the order and urged the operator to reject Russian LNG “until further notice.”

In its letter, the Ministry of Economy noted that to allow such deliveries would be to contradict the very purpose of the terminals—to ensure the independence of Germany and the EU from Russian gas.

Germany has not imported Russian LNG since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the ministry’s instruction “ensures that this remains the case,” the letter said.

As the newspaper reminded, before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Germany was the largest importer of Russian gas in Europe.

In June, the EU imposed sanctions against Russian liquefied natural gas, including a ban on the use of EU facilities for the transshipment of Russian LNG to third countries.

On November 8, it became known that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, during a phone conversation with US President-elect Donald Trump, raised the idea of increasing imports of American liquefied natural gas to reduce imports from Russia.