A historical record. Russian gas is now more expensive than in the US

Information on current losses of the Russian Federation as a result of sanctions

• 1 • 

Russia's leading shipping company Sovcomflot has summarized its 2024 results, which show a rapid deterioration in the company's financial condition amid Western sanctions and global isolation.

• The company's net profit under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) plummeted to $424 million, almost half as much as a year earlier ($943 million).
• Moreover, the figures were much worse than analysts' expectations, who had forecast at least $568 million in profit.
• EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) also declined significantly to $1.041 billion, while in 2023 the company could still boast of $1.572 billion.
• The figures only confirm the deep crisis in which the Russian fleet finds itself under pressure from Western sanctions, insurance and financing restrictions, and the risk of secondary sanctions against ships carrying Russian oil and fuel.
• As the sanctions policy continues and the US and EU take increasingly tougher measures, Sovcomflot's prospects remain bleak, and Russia continues to lose ground in global transportation markets.

• 2 •

Russia's imports of foreign cars collapse - the auto industry is sinking deeper into crisis.

• The Russian car market continues to rapidly degrade amid sanctions isolation and economic instability. As of February 2025, imports of new passenger cars to Russia fell by a record 73% year-on-year, dropping to 16.2 thousand units.
• Supplies of used cars also plummeted to minus 20%, indicating a sharp decline in the purchasing power of Russians and the gradual degradation of even the secondary market.
• The reasons for the collapse are obvious: the massive flight of global brands, a sharp increase in the utilization fee in the fall of 2024, rising prices, and the reluctance of businesses to "freeze" funds in a stagnant market.
• The rate of decline can only accelerate as Russia remains without a high-quality vehicle fleet, and its own industry is unable to cover the shortage of modern cars.
• All of this is another signal of how the sanctions policy and the technological blockade continue to break down the remnants of the Russian economy.

• 3 •

For the first time in history, domestic gas prices in Russia have exceeded American prices.

• According to the Russian media, the cost of a thousand cubic meters of natural gas in the regions of the Russian Federation in 2025 will be from 5 to 8 thousand rubles, which is almost $90, while in the United States the price is less than $80.
• The reason for this absurd situation is simple: Gazprom's failure in the European market, which has caused the Russian budget more than $40 billion in losses annually after the loss of exports.
• Now the Russians themselves are forced to compensate for the losses by paying for gas at inflated tariffs.
• While Russia has been left without lucrative contracts in Europe because of the war against Ukraine, the country's authorities are shifting the financial hole onto the shoulders of its population and businesses, inflating domestic prices to record levels.
• Instead of modernizing the economy and stopping the aggression, the Kremlin is forcing its own citizens to pay for its geopolitical adventures by artificially maintaining Gazprom's dead profits.

• 4 •

Russian LNG continues to flow to the EU.

• Despite the EU's stated goals to reduce its dependence on Russian energy, in January-February 2025, the volume of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies to Europe increased by 5% compared to the same period last year, reaching 3.92 billion cubic meters, according to the Bruegel think tank.
• This increase occurred amid a temporary drop in U.S. supplies by almost 20% in February, which created a window of opportunity for the Kremlin to partially compensate for losses in other markets.
• However, in the overall picture, Russian LNG continues to lose share in the EU's import structure. The main sources of supply remain the United States (12 billion cubic meters over two months), as well as Africa (3.3 billion cubic meters) and the Middle East (2.2 billion cubic meters). Total gas purchases from the EU increased by 7% to 22.3 bcm.
• Russia's attempts to increase LNG supplies under sanctions and isolation are an effort to preserve the regime's critical foreign exchange earnings to finance its war against Ukraine.
• The European Union is urged to speed up work on new sanctions on Russian LNG to close these loopholes through which the Kremlin continues to finance its aggression against Ukraine.

• 5 •

Russia supplies diesel to Syria on tankers under US sanctions.

• Moscow continues to ignore international sanctions by increasing energy supplies to sanctioned regimes.
• According to LSEG, for the first time in more than a decade, Russia has sent a shipment of diesel fuel to Syria aboard the US-sanctioned tanker Prosperity.
• On February 8, the Barbados-flagged vessel loaded about 37,000 tons of diesel in the port of Primorsk and is currently near the Syrian port of Banias. The tanker is operated by Dubai-based Fornax Ship Management, which is already on the US sanctions list.
• This is the first direct delivery of Russian diesel to Syria since 2013, a country that, like Russia, is under international sanctions for its war and crimes against civilians.
• The fact that the fuel was delivered on a sanctioned vessel indicates a blatant attempt by the Kremlin to maintain its geopolitical influence by violating global restrictions, despite the risk of criminal liability for the companies and individuals involved.
• Such actions by Moscow are a direct challenge to Western sanctions mechanisms and call for immediate strengthening of control over the "shadow fleet" that Russia uses to supply the Assad regime and finance the continuation of the war against Ukraine.

• 6 •

The EU is considering the possibility of resuming the transit of Russian gas to Slovakia through Ukraine to avoid blocking financial aid to Kyiv by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.

• The draft final statement of the European Council summit in Brussels envisages the intervention of the EU leadership to conclude a deal that would allow Moscow to resume gas exports through Ukrainian territory. The Kremlin is trying to use energy blackmail to weaken EU solidarity and increase its influence through the pro-Russian governments of Slovakia and Hungary.
• The EU special summit aims to find alternative ways to support Ukraine after US President Donald Trump froze military aid and cooperation with Europe. At the same time, populists Fico and Orban are threatening to disrupt joint initiatives, which only plays into the hands of the Kremlin.
• Against the backdrop of Russia's full-scale aggression, such steps carry the risk of increasing Europe's dependence on Russian energy resources and splitting Ukraine's allies.

• 7 •

European Union leaders at an extraordinary summit in Brussels approved a large-scale plan to increase Europe's defense capabilities, known as "ReArm Europe," which provides for the mobilization of up to 800 billion euros.

The main aspects of the plan are as follows:

• Fiscal flexibility: The suspension of EU budget rules will allow member states to increase defense spending, potentially freeing up to €650 billion over four years.
• Defense loans: Providing €150 billion in loans for joint defense projects such as air and missile defense systems.
• Redirecting the budget: Reallocating existing EU funds, including cohesion funds, for defense investments.
• The role of the European Investment Bank (EIB): Removing restrictions on EIB lending to support defense companies.
• Savings Union: Creating a mechanism to mobilize private capital into the defense sector, which will increase investment in the sector.
• President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen emphasized the need to strengthen Europe's defense capabilities, given the current geopolitical challenges, including the war in Ukraine and uncertainty about US support.
• This step underscores the EU's determination to strengthen its own defense and support Ukraine against the backdrop of growing threats from Russia.

• 8 •

The US threatens aggressive sanctions against Russia for peace in Ukraine.

• Washington demonstrates its readiness to increase pressure on the Kremlin: US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the administration would not hesitate to impose new aggressive sanctions against Russia if it helps to end the war in Ukraine.
• "We will act decisively and uncompromisingly to maximize the impact on Russia and ensure results in the negotiations. Restrictions will target the most sensitive sectors, including energy," Bessent emphasized, criticizing the previous Biden administration for "weak" measures.
• Meanwhile, despite the extension of sanctions against Russia for a year, Donald Trump's team is simultaneously preparing a plan to ease them.

• 9 •

Latvia calls for a complete closure of the EU to Russians - visas are under threat due to the hybrid war.

• Latvian Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis called on EU countries to completely stop issuing Schengen visas to Russian citizens. He warned that Russian travel could pose a direct threat to the EU's internal security, given the ongoing war in Ukraine and Moscow's active hybrid aggression.
• "We must recognize that we are in a state of hybrid war. And it is our moral duty to protect Europe from potential threats by refusing to issue visas to citizens of the aggressor country," the minister said.
• Latvia has closed its borders to Russians since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, except in cases of emergency. Similar restrictions are in place in Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Finland.
• However, according to the European Commission, in 2024, more than 565,000 Schengen visas were still issued to Russian citizens, and this figure increased by 25% compared to 2023.
• Kozlovskis called for an end to the "business as usual" policy towards Russians, because in the context of war and constant provocations from Moscow, such leniency can be costly for the security of the whole of Europe.