The EU reassures Naturgy and Repsol about breaking Russian gas contracts: "They can invoke force majeure."

BrusselsThe European Union (EU) has continued to purchase Russian gas despite the aggression initiated by Vladimir Putin's regime against Ukraine. According to the European Commission itself, the bloc has spent more on the purchase of fossil fuels from Russia than on aid sent to Ukraine. However, Brussels has proposed to stop purchasing gas from Russia definitively: it will prohibit European companies from purchasing fossil fuels and will even force them to terminate the contracts they have signed years in advance with Russian business partners, which has set off alarm bells in some affected companies, such as Repsol and Naturgy.

However, EU sources have wanted to send a reassuring message to these energy companies and assure them that they will be able to break these contracts with Russian suppliers without problems because "they will be able to invoke force majeure," such as the war in Ukraine. In this sense, Brussels insists that they will not have legal problems, although it assumes that Russian companies will denounce the breach of contracts with EU companies.

Consequences of the veto

Another request from the energy companies affected by this European Commission measure was compensation, especially if they are ultimately forced to pay Russian companies for terminating their contracts. For the time being, Brussels is not open to financial compensation and is giving them time to find alternative suppliers until 2027. Furthermore, the EU executive rules out having to pay Russian companies for breaking trade agreements.

At this point, Naturgy has a contract signed in 2013 with Yamal LNG until 2038, and Repsol with Novatek, from 2021 to 2038. Among others, the French company Total Energies is also in a similar situation. It is worth remembering that last year, Spain was one of the EU countries that imported the most liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia, surpassed only by France. The State imported 2 billion euros in LNG and the only partner in the community bloc that reduced its imports was Belgium, by 29% compared to the previous year, according to the annual study. LNG tracker.