According to data analyzed by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) think tank for Politico, France has spent just over $640 million for gas supplies from Russia since the beginning of the year, leading to complaints of hypocrisy from other nations.
“It cannot be that France, on the one hand, says that we have to be harsh with Russia, and on the other hand, is paying them off with big money,” said one EU country’s diplomat, speaking anonymously to allow him to speak frankly.
Russia’s fossil fuel revenues account for about half of the Kremlin’s budget, with funding taking a hit from sanctions; and critics are saying that Paris can do more to stop the gas purchases. However, the critics say that Paris is not taking action because of resistance from TotalEnergies, France’s national energy giant.
Because of a long-term contract, TotalEnergies must buy at least 4 million tons of LNG from Novatek every year until 2032.
At least nine other EU countries are continuing to buy LNG from Russia, according to shipping data, but Paris led the bloc in absolute volumes imported this year, compared to the same period last year. Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands, are the largest EU buyers after France.