A top official in Germany’s economy ministry said a nationalized firm — formerly part of Gazprom PJSC — should end its agreement to deliver liquefied natural gas from Russia as controversy grows over the company’s ties.
Securing Energy for Europe GmbH, known as SEFE, has a legacy contract that it “has been trying to get rid of in different ways,” according to Philipp Steinberg, who heads the ministry’s department for economic stabilization and energy security.
“This is something that needs to be terminated asap,” he wrote on social media platform X, noting that the government has to deal with “certain facts.”
Germany nationalized the company at the height of Europe’s energy crisis last year. The firm was the focus of criticism last week, when it emerged that it is trading a cargo of LNG produced by the Yamal facility in Siberia.
SEFE didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Read: Germany-Backed SEFE Set to Take First Russian LNG Since Crisis
The shipment highlights the complexity of the global LNG trade and Europe’s energy links to Russia in the fallout of the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine. Germany opposes LNG imports from Russia, though it hasn’t banned them. Some other European Union nations have increased seaborne gas shipments from Russia after Gazprom severely curbed pipeline flows last year.
SEFE doesn’t plan to import LNG into Germany. It’s set to pick up the cargo in Belgium and ship it to India. The firm has a contract to deliver gas produced by Yamal — a holdover from its Gazprom days — that started in 2018 and is expected to run until 2038. It also has separate long-term obligations to supply India’s GAIL Ltd.
An economy spokeswoman on Monday said she couldn’t provide details as to how SEFE’s contract to handle Russian LNG could be canceled, adding that a review is under way.
--With assistance from Todd Gillespie.
