EU has paid over €200bn for Russian energy since war began – FT

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, EU countries have paid more than 200 billion euros for oil and gas from Russia.

This was reported in the Financial Times.

In 2024, EU countries paid 22 billion euros, of which about 700 million were for nuclear fuel. Despite the small amounts, abandoning Russian nuclear power is a much more difficult task than abandoning oil or gas.

The reason is high dependence. The EU has 19 Soviet-type VVER nuclear reactors, which are most dependent on supplies from Russia.

“The uranium supply chain is very complex, so a gradual approach is needed,” the energy expert explained.

It is noted that in the coming days, Brussels will present new legal mechanisms to completely ban imports of oil, gas, and coal from Russia to the EU.

The European Commission also seeks to completely abandon the import of Russian nuclear technologies by the 2030s.

However, implementing this will not be easy – Russia dominates the nuclear market, and this is a serious problem.

“Rosatom is one of the largest companies in all sectors of nuclear energy,” the publication quotes an expert on nuclear energy as saying.

It was previously reported that the European Union is preparing the 18th package of sanctions against Russia , focused on reducing the Kremlin’s energy revenues and weakening the military-industrial complex of the aggressor state.

Recall that the European Union approved the 17th package of sanctions against Russia , which imposes restrictions on almost 200 ships of its shadow fleet. The new restrictions are also aimed at countering hybrid threats from Russia and protecting human rights.

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