The EU has at least partially halted imports of Russian oil. The Netherlands and Germany were recently the largest importers from Europe.
The heads of state and government of the European Union have decided on a partial embargo on imports of Russian oil. This is an import ban by sea, transport routes such as the Druzhba pipeline, which supplies Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Germany, for example, remain exempt from this for the time being. As the Statista chart shows, Russia could offset this sanction with an increased focus on its southern neighbors.
More oil from the Adriatic pipeline
According to the UN Comtrade, the value of Russian oil exports to China in 2020 was around USD 24 billion, a value that corresponded to the combined oil imports from the Netherlands, Germany, Poland and Italy in the same year and could rise significantly in the future. In 2020 alone, there were six EU countries in the top 10 largest export destination countries for Russian oil, which will probably have to reorient themselves under the new embargo: According to the magazine “Wirtschaftswoche”, 70 to 85 percent of the oil is shipped to Europe in tankers. The EU wants to compensate for the loss, among other things, by increasing the capacity of the Southeastern European Adriatic pipeline.
