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allocated, halting inflows from Romania. Furthermore, Austria would be unable to forward gas to Hungary, while Croatia won't have additional regasification capacity available before 2025. Hungary would have to rely solely on increased gas flow through the TurkStream pipeline, whereby the Horgos entry point would be required to operate continuously at its maximum capacity of 9 Bcm per year. Alternatively, if Austria could source sufficient LNG from Italy, Hungary could receive additional gas through reverse flows at the Mosonmagyarovar entry point from Austria.
Central and Eastern European countries are preparing for a possible halt in the Ukraine gas transit and have joined forces to create a Vertical Gas Corridor under the EU's Central and South Eastern Europe Energy Connectivity Initiative (CESEC). This year, on 19 January, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed in Athens involving EU energy commissioner Kadri Simson and the Transmission System Operators (TSOs) from Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine and Moldova. The corridor would utilize existing infrastructure in Ukraine and Moldova and enable LNG imports from Greece and Turkey to reach Slovakia, Hungary and possibly Poland.
Furthermore, Turkey's transmission system operator BOTAS and Bulgaria's operator Bulgartransgaz signed an agreement in January 2024 to increase gas entry capacity at the Strandzha 1 entry point, enabling increased gas flows from Azerbaijan and the Caspian Sea region into Europe. This expansion could aid in raising Azerbaijan's EU gas exports from 13 Bcm to 20 Bcm per year by 2027 and, in the long run, potentially transport Iranian gas through the Solidarity Ring Initiative.
Russia increased its exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 9% (or 2bn cubic metres) and piped gas by 7% in the first half of 2024 y/y, according to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA). "Russian LNG inflows rose by 9% y/y and remain highly concentrated. Belgium, France and Spain accounted for more than 85% of Europe’s total LNG imports from Russia in H1 2024," the report states.
The Yamal LNG plant was the main driver of growth, although smaller projects also contributed to increased exports, the IEA noted.
Sanctions Impact on LNG Projects
On 2 November 2023, the United States imposed sanctions against Novatek's Arctic LNG 2 project. On 12 December 2023, the United States imposed sanctions against Russian enterprises producing equipment for LNG production, including Northern Technologies, Kazankompressormash and Gazprom Linde Engineering. The EU announced the introduction of restrictions on the transit of Russian LNG through European ports to third countries from the spring of 2025 (after a transition period of nine months), and
194 RUSSIA Country Report August 2024 www.intellinews.com