Brussels seeks to power EU corporations to reveal Russian fuel contracts | USAEMALL.com

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The European Commission plans to force EU companies to reveal details of their Russian gas contracts, as it seeks to crack down on fuel imports from the country.

Companies would be required to disclose the volume and duration of any gas contracts held with Russia to the commission, and to national energy and security authorities, under rules to be proposed next month, according to a document seen by the Financial Times.

“These measures would give governments and the commission access to relevant information on Russian gas entering their energy systems, allowing the implementation of EU-wide targeted and effective measures and prepare alternative supplies,” the document said.

The commission declined to comment on the draft.

The rules are part of a wider plan that would help the EU to phase out the last of the Russian fuels in its system by 2027. The plan also includes proposed trade measures on imports of enriched uranium.

All spot market contracts for gas, which make up about a third of EU imports, should be banned by the end of this year. A ban on long-term gas contracts should come into place “no later than 2027”, the document said.

A gas industry executive said that the document was “more ambitious” than expected. While the overall plan seemed positive, the executive questioned the legal basis for banning spot or long-term gas contracts.

Despite efforts to sever dependence on Russian fuels since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian gas still makes up 13 per cent of the EU’s overall imports. Oil imports from Russia, which have been largely sanctioned, have dropped to about 3 per cent of the EU’s total supply. Before 2022, these were about 28 per cent.

Countries such as Hungary and Slovakia, however, are still heavily reliant on Russian fuels. Russian oil makes up about 80 per cent of supplies going to Hungary and Slovakia, which — along with Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Finland — also require Russian spare parts and fuels for their Soviet-style civil nuclear reactors.

The commission said it would require member states to provide national plans that would set out a timeline and options for diversifying away from Russian fuels by the end of 2025.

For nuclear power, the commission said that next month it would also introduce “trade measures” on imports of enriched uranium to encourage the development of “an EU value chain and diversify away from Russia in a gradual manner”.

It also said it would push member states to phase out supplies of Russian nuclear fuel, fuel services and spare parts from Russia and replace them with “fully European” alternatives.