In December 2025, the European Union ranked fourth in the world among the largest buyers of fossil fuels from Russia. For the month, five EU member countries transferred a total of €1.4 billion to the Russian Federation for energy resource imports.
This is reported by Business • Media
Import Details: Key Countries and Energy Resources
The overwhelming share—79%—of this volume was attributed to natural gas, which is not subject to European sanctions. The remaining supplies concerned crude oil, which continues to be transported to Hungary and Slovakia via the “Druzhba” pipeline.
Hungary became the largest importer of Russian fossil fuels among EU countries, purchasing resources worth €337 million. Of this amount, €130 million was allocated for crude oil purchases, while €207 million was for pipeline gas. France and Belgium each acquired Russian liquefied natural gas for the same amount—€204 million each, while Spain spent €203 million for these purposes. Slovakia rounds out the top five largest importers in the EU, purchasing both crude oil and pipeline gas from Russia.
Restrictions on Russian Gas Imports
As of December 2025, the EU accounted for 11% of Russia’s export revenues from the five main buyers of fossil fuels. Meanwhile, the following year will be the last in which Russia can export liquefied natural gas to EU countries. By the fall of 2027, a complete ban on the import of Russian gas via pipelines will come into effect.
“The five largest countries importing Russian fossil fuels in the European Union paid Russia a total of €1.4 billion in December. Natural gas, which the EU did not sanction, accounted for 79% of this import. The remaining volumes were for crude oil, which continues to be supplied to Hungary and Slovakia via the ‘Druzhba’ pipeline. Thus, the EU became the fourth largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels in December, accounting for 11% of Russia’s export revenues from the five largest buyers.”