Lithuania Legally Bans Russian Gas Exports

On Thursday, the Lithuanian Parliament legally banned Russian gas exports, as part of Vilnius’ effort to reduce its dependence on Russia in the field of energy.

According to the amendments to the law, no country, which poses a threat to Lithuania’s national security, uses the country’s natural gas transmission system or Liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal.

However, the law allows the Russian companies to use Lithuania’s infrastructure to supply pumping gas in transit to Kaliningrad, the Russian enclave located between Lithuania and Poland on the coast of the Baltic Sea.

It is worth mentioning that in spring, Lithuania stopped buying Russian gas, which it was importing through pipelines or through an LNG station, against the backdrop of the Russian military operation in Ukraine.

In Early March, Klaipedos Nafta suspended accepting gas supplies from Novatek due to the European Union's sanctions imposed against Gennady Timchenko.

Russian gas currently continues to be pumped in transit via Lithuania to Kaliningrad, but in a different technical regime that ensures only the transfer of the amount of gas necessary for transit.