Korea will be able to stably import Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), which had been at risk of being blocked from early next year.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said on the 24th that the Council of the European Union adopted its 21st sanctions package against Russia on the 23rd, which includes an exception rule regarding Korea's imports of Russian LNG.
Earlier, the EU announced through its 19th sanctions package in October last year measures banning EU companies from providing services related to Russian LNG exported to third countries. The measures were set to take effect on January 1 next year for long-term contracts with terms of one year or more.
The problem was that this raised concerns about disruptions to LNG imports by the Korea Gas Corporation. Under a long-term contract signed with the Russian Sakhalin II LNG project, the Korea Gas Corporation has been importing 1.5 million tons of LNG annually since April 2008. Many of the reinsurers participating in the LNG transport vessels for the project are insurers based in the EU and the United Kingdom.
In response, the government continuously requested an exception reflecting Korea's special circumstances. As a result, the EU created a new exception rule excluding, from the relevant EU sanctions, cases in which LNG produced at the Russian Sakhalin II project is transported to Korea and Japan, until March 31, 2028, when the long-term contract ends. The volume of LNG to be imported during the remaining contract period is about 2 million tons.
"In particular, discussions between the two sides made significant progress at the Korea-EU summit held last month," a Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy official said. "We will actively use the EU case in negotiations with the United Kingdom to swiftly resolve the related risk."
