EU bans Russian oil and gas imports from 1 January 2028, Croatia ready with LNG

A total ban on Russian oil and gas imports will come into force in the European Union from 1 January 2028. European energy and economy ministers agreed on the plan at a meeting in Luxembourg.

The agreement covers gas pipelines and liquefied natural gas. Hungary and Slovakia, which continue to use Russian energy, could not block the decision because it was not a sanction, so a qualified majority was required for adoption.

The ministers confirmed the Council's negotiating position, according to which imports of Russian gas would be banned from 1 January 2026. Existing contracts concluded before 17 June this year would be subject to a transitional period. For short-term contracts, this would expire on 17 June 2026, and for long-term contracts on 1 January 2028. From then on, imports of gas, whether liquefied or transported by pipeline, would be completely banned.

Following this decision, the preconditions for the start of negotiations with European Parliament were created, which adopted its negotiating position last week.

In May 2022, the European Commission proposed a plan to gradually reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels (REPowerEU), and in May this year it proposed an amendment to that regulation, which envisages the complete elimination of imports of Russian fossil fuels by the end of 2027.

The regulation is being adopted in the ordinary legislative procedure, which means that decisions in the Council are made by qualified majority, and not unanimously, as is the case when voting on sanctions. Therefore, Hungary and Slovakia, which oppose this plan, cannot stop the adoption of the regulation.

“Our position is very clear. We proudly pointed out that our LNG ship returned to the Republic of Croatia yesterday and will be in operational use in a few days. Its capacity has been increased to 6.1 billion cubic meters. This is more than Croatia's needs. We did this for the purpose of solidarity with our neighbors, with the entire region, primarily the Republic of Slovenia, the Republic of Hungary, but by increasing the transport capacity we will be able to provide energy security for LNG and almost to Bavaria,” said Ante Šušnjar, Minister of Economy.

Source: HRT