Gazprom exported less gas to Europe last year due to the pandemic

Russian energy giant Gazprom announced a decline in exports to Europe in 2020, when demand in the energy industry and prices fell due to the pandemic of the new coronavirus. Gazprom, which also includes Turkey's exports to Europe, said its exports fell by 12.1% year-on-year in 2020 to 174.97 billion cubic meters (m3), compared with 198.97 billion m3 it exported to Europe in 2019. Despite the decline, these exports were ultimately higher than Gazprom's 2020 forecast, which projected 166.6 billion m3 of gas to be exported to Europe. The Russian energy giant generates a large part of its revenue from exports to Europe, especially to the West. Its main customer is Germany, where gas imports in 2020 decreased by 14% compared to the previous year. And while demand for Russian gas was hit by the pandemic last year, Gazprom's plans to increase exports to Europe were thwarted by uncertainty about the nearly completed Nord Stream 2 pipeline between Russia and Germany. Last December, pipeline work in German waters resumed after a nearly one-year hiatus over the threat of US sanctions. The United States and several European countries, including Poland, have criticized the construction of the pipeline, arguing that it will increase Germany's and the European Union's dependence on gas supplies from Russia.