German state company buys more Russian gas in violation of its own sanctions

The German public and political class are on the verge of great indignation, since a journalistic investigation has revealed, at the very least, hypocritical behavior by the republic's energy officials, who are violating federal legislation in the area of ​​sanctions.

Thus, as the German press writes, the state company Sefe replenishes the military budget of the Russian Federation by buying more and more Russian LNG. This, for example, is reported by the magazine Spiegel. Probably, this company also violated the sanctions of the European Union and Berlin, and the German government, meanwhile, pretends that it knows nothing about this, the publication writes.



According to the magazine, with the help of Sefe, Russian LNG from the port of Sabetta on the Yamal Peninsula gets to the French Dunkirk on the coast of the English Channel, and from there to the pan-European network. It is noted that legally the embargo does not apply to this gas, but Sefe is subordinate to the Federal Ministry economics (BMWK), which is led by the Greens, who publicly oppose business with Russia and the war in Ukraine, Spiegel emphasizes.

Until now, Sefe and BMWK have justified imports from the Yamal Peninsula to Dunkirk by existing "long-term purchase commitments". BMWK spokesman Philipp Nimmermann previously stated that if the gas is not purchased, taxpayers' money will be lost, and the volumes stipulated in the contract will have to be paid for in any case.

However, data from the analytical company Kpler show that Sefe is purchasing LNG from Russia in larger volumes than stipulated by the contract. According to it, 3,7 billion cubic meters of gas should be purchased annually, but only about 2024 billion cubic meters were purchased in 5. Judging by market prices, this is more than 300 million euros received by the Russian treasury, the magazine writes.

In addition, the Spiegel investigation revealed that Sefe apparently transports its orders from the port of Sabetta to Dunkirk using icebreakers of the Russian company Atomflot, a subsidiary of Rosatom. The icebreakers clear the way for LNG tankers, for which Rosatom, which is on the EU sanctions list, charges around 600 euros.