5 EU countries paid €1.1B for oil supplies from Russia in July

The five largest importers of fossil fuels from Russia to the EU - Hungary, Slovakia, Belgium, France and Spain - paid 1.1 billion euros in July for supplies of Russian oil, pipeline and liquefied natural gas (LNG), reads an update by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), Report informs.

The experts' calculations are based, in particular, on data from the analytical company Kpler, the vessel tracking portal Marine Traffic, the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Gas (ENTSOG), and Eurostat.

"In July 2025, the five largest importers of Russian fossil fuels to the EU paid a total of 1.1 billion euros. The EU does not impose sanctions on natural gas, which accounts for more than 67% of these imports and is mainly supplied by pipeline or in the form of liquefied natural gas," the update says.

The rest was mainly oil, which continues to be supplied to Hungary and Slovakia via the southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline under an EU exemption, the report says. Hungary was the largest importer, purchasing pipeline gas and oil from Russia last month for 485 million euros, of which 200 million euros was oil and the rest was gas.

France came in second, purchasing only LNG for 239 million euros, while Slovakia came in third, with 79% of its imports being oil supplied via the Druzhba pipeline, for a total of 169 million euros. Belgium purchased Russian LNG in July for 102 million euros, while Spain bought 66 million euros.