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refrained from fully aligning with Moscow’s alternative financial infrastructure. India declined to adopt Russia’s SPFS (System for Transfer of Financial Messages), Moscow’s SWIFT alternative, and instead opted for a rupee-based trade settle- ment mechanism.
Cautious optimism or diplomatic gesture?
While political rhetoric suggests progress on Mir’s accep- tance in India, practical implementation remains doubt-
ful in the near term. The risk of Western sanctions, the technical complexity of payment system integration, and India’s strategic caution in financial dealings with Russia all contribute to uncertainty. Unless these structural issues are addressed, the ambassador’s comments may be more reflec- tive of diplomatic optimism than an imminent financial breakthrough. For now, Mir’s future in India remains an open question – more a topic of negotiation than a reality on the ground.
Germany’s Russian LNG imports surge over 500% in 2024, via other countries
Ben Aris in Berlin
Germany talks loudly about ending Europe’s import
of Russian gas, but as a result of alternative sources
of energy, it has seen imports of Russian LNG soar by 500% in 2024 year on year, worth a total of €7.32bn, delivered via other European countries, UBN reported on January 29.
Berlin has officially banned direct imports of LNG to its new facilities on the north coast, but it has been receiving Russian liquified gas via face-saving intermediatory ports.
Formerly Germany was heavily dependent on the import of Russian piped gas to power its economy and had not built LNG terminals making it almost entirely dependent on the Nord Stream 1&2 pipelines carrying gas from Russia’s giant Yamal gas fields to make landfall in Lubmin, a coastal town in northeastern Germany.
Following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 Berlin banned any direct imports of Russian gas but has continued to import it via third parties. However, with reduced volumes and soaring costs, the end of cheap imported Russian gas has led to the deindustrialisation of the German economy and sent the former powerhouse of Europe into a two-year long recession.
Data shows that Germany continues to acquire Russian LNG indirectly. The state-owned energy company Sefe, formerly part of Gazprom and nationalised in 2022, purchased 58 cargoes of LNG via the French port of Dunkirk last year – marking a more than 500% increase from the previous year, UBN reports.
While Germany has halted direct pipeline gas imports from Russia, between 3% and 9.2% of its gas supply still originates from Russia, reaching the country through other EU members according to the data.
A significant portion of Russian LNG arrives at Belgian ports, where it is re-gasified and transported via pipelines
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across Europe. Once in Germany, also home to the largest gas storage tanks in the EU, the gas is typically recorded as Belgian in official energy statistics, despite Belgium having no domestic LNG production.
Belgium is among the largest importers of Russian LNG, alongside Spain and France. In 2024, Russian LNG supplies to Europe reached a record 17.2bn cubic metres, with a portion of these shipments bound by long-term contracts that companies are unable to terminate.
Europe remains hooked on Russian gas and has been unable to find alternative sources of energy.
The EU is currently preparing a sixteenth package of sanctions on Russia that will be released on the third anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine. Despite recent calls by ten EU members to ban LNG imports to Europe, LNG will not be included in the upcoming sanctions package.
Germany has banned the direct import of Russian gas either by pipeline or LNG tanker, but its imports of Russian gas in 2024 were up 500% in 2024, arriving via face-saving third-party ports in France and Belgium. / bne IntelliNews