Greek LNG shipping demand blocks new EU Russia sanctions
Athens is holding up a new EU sanctions package by demanding an exemption for shipping Russian liquefied natural gas, a move that risks undermining the bloc's oil price cap.
Greece has blocked the adoption of a new European Union sanctions package against Russia by demanding an exemption for ships carrying Russian liquefied natural gas to non-EU countries. The request has angered other member states and disrupted plans for a scheduled review of the bloc's Russian oil price cap.
The EU agreed last October to ban the purchase, import or transfer of Russian LNG starting on 1 January 2027. Greek officials now want to reopen that legal text to exclude transport services, arguing that a shipping ban would be "all pain, no gain" because Moscow would simply hire Chinese vessels to maintain its energy revenues.
The dispute centres on the commercial interests of Greek shipping magnates. Dynagas, a company owned by billionaire George Prokopiou, has chartered 11 vessels, including seven Arctic icebreakers, to Yamal, Russia's largest LNG producer. Dynagas warned that the ban is a "self-inflicted blow to Europe's maritime capacity, Arctic shipping expertise, employment and strategic influence, while failing to achieve its intended geopolitical objectives." The company also cited long-term contracts running to 2065, noting that breaching them could trigger debt defaults.
Diplomats from other member states are aghast at the attempt to retroactively challenge a unanimously endorsed measure. "Shameless," one diplomat said. The original LNG ban was designed to give private operators legal cover to invoke force majeure and exit their Russian contracts, a tool that Athens is now jeopardising.
The deadlock has spilled over into a critical mechanism for limiting Moscow's wartime revenues. The Russian oil price cap, currently set at $44.10 per barrel, is supposed to adjust automatically every six months. Because global oil prices surged following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the formula would raise the cap to $58 per barrel, granting the Kremlin vital financial relief.
The European Commission wants to delay the review until January to keep the cap at $44.10. Ambassadors pushed the cap discussion from 15 July to 23 July to buy time for a broader deal. While negotiators finalised measures on banking, crypto and the shadow fleet, they dropped restrictions on fisheries and Patriarch Kirill, watered down a Russian soldier entry ban, and promised Austria a future solution regarding a €2.1 billion loss tied to the sanctioned firm Rasperia.
