Russia accounted for 100% of Belgium’s LNG imports in July

All 400,000 tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) imported by Belgium in July came from Russia¹. This marks the first time Moscow has been the country’s sole LNG supplier since 2021, i.e., before the large-scale invasion of Ukraine.

• Despite the European Union’s ban on spot-market purchases taking effect at the end of April, the bloc remains the leading buyer of Russian LNG.
• Last month, member states accounted for about 45% of LNG purchases, according to our calculations, more than China (around 34%).².
• Purchases of Russian LNG by the European Union since the start of the war amount to €120 billion, a total higher than oil purchases (€110 billion).

The weight of Belgium in Europe’s Russian LNG purchases mainly stems from the role of the port of Zeebrugge, whose regasification capacity (about 9 billion cubic metres per year) enables imports far exceeding Belgium’s own consumption. The terminal serves as a loading platform as well as a redistribution hub for gas to France, the Netherlands, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

• The increase in Belgian LNG imports from Russia—and the decline in imports from other regions, notably the Gulf—coincides with the onset of the US-Israeli war against Iran.
• Due to rising prices, European buyers have heavily postponed orders in the expectation that a swift resolution to the conflict would unlock the Strait of Hormuz.
• Low levels of European gas reserves—standing at 59.4%, i.e., 12.6 percentage points lower than a year ago at the same time—are likely to compel the Union to raise LNG imports ahead of winter, according to the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER).³.

According to Urgewald, European LNG import volumes of Russian gas rose 16% in the first half of the year compared with 2025, reaching nearly €6 billion⁴.

• Over the same period, while the Port of Zeebrugge recorded the largest number of cargoes (37 in the first six months of the year), France imported the largest amount of LNG (3.74 million tonnes), ahead of Belgium (2.7 million).
• Hungary remains the top European importer of Russian gas since 2022, with €17.4 billion, ahead of France (€15.4 billion) and Germany (€14.4 billion).