Sefe instead of Gazprom: Berlin continues to order Russian liquefied natural gas
In 2023, the German government-owned gas trading company Sefe (Securing Energy for Europe) asked the Russian government to resume liquefied natural gas (LNG) deliveries, Norddeutscher Rundfunk reported in mid-May. This followed a meeting between Sefe CEO Egbert Laege and Novatek CEO Leonid Michelson in Dubai in April 2023.
The German government had nationalized Gazprom Germania on November 14, 2022, and renamed it Sefe. Then-Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Robert Habeck stated in March 2023 that German companies were no longer purchasing Russian gas. Gazprom Germania was founded in 1990 as the German subsidiary of the Russian conglomerate Gazprom. Until 2022, the Berlin-based gas trader was wholly owned by Gazprom. In April 2022, the Federal Network Agency placed the company under trusteeship. Sefe is now Germany’s second-largest gas importer and employs around 2,000 people. Uniper—also nationalized by the federal government in December 2022 with a 99.1% stake—is the largest.
In May 2023, a Sefe subsidiary wrote to its Russian business partners requesting “temporary permission” to resume operations. A few days later, the Russian news agency TASS reported the lifting of the Russian sanctions against Sefe that had been imposed on May 3. Since then, Yamal LNG has once again been flowing from Siberia to Sefe. Russian pipeline gas has played no role since Nord Stream deliveries ceased in 2022.
Contractually India, de facto Europe
The Yamal liquefied natural gas is contractually intended for the Indian state-owned company Gail—in 2012, the Indians signed a 20-year contract with Gazprom. Sefe is to deliver up to 2.85 million tons there annually. Sefe compensated for the supply shortfall in 2022 and 2023 with a settlement payment of $285 million, approximately €250 million. Deliveries have resumed since March 2023, partly with replacement volumes from other suppliers. An analysis by the non-governmental organization Urgewald, based on shipping data from Kpler analysts, reveals a different picture: the majority of Yamal shipments remain in Europe. In 2025, 15 out of 19.7 million tons of Yamal LNG reached European ports. This corresponds to 76.1% of total production, compared to 75.4% in the previous year. According to Urgewald’s calculations, Russia earned 7.2 billion euros from this, and an additional 2.88 billion euros in the first quarter of 2026.
In 2025, France was the largest EU buyer of Russian liquefied natural gas, with 6.3 million tons arriving via Dunkirk and Montoir. Belgium followed with 4.2 million tons via Zeebrugge, and Spain with 2.8 million tons. In February 2026, 100% of Yamal ship cargoes reached EU terminals for the first time. Not a single ship called at China or other Asian markets. Logistics is driving this trend: Since the start of the Hormuz crisis, freight costs to the south have been rising. Sefe-Yamal shipments are being unloaded at European ports, and Gail is securing replacement volumes via spot markets.
Excess purchases instead of minimum off-take
Sefe sources the liquefied natural gas under a 2015 contract between Gazprom Germania and the Novatek subsidiary Yamal LNG. The contract runs until 2038 and stipulates a minimum purchase of 3.9 billion cubic meters per year. In 2024, however, Sefe purchased 5.66 billion cubic meters—1.76 billion cubic meters above the contractual obligation. This is according to data from the EU energy regulatory authority ACER.
Economically, the purchase pays off. Sefe’s pre-tax profit rose to 1.13 billion euros in 2024, more than double the 2023 figure (430 million euros). The Yamal contract is priced below the European spot market level, making the additional purchase lucrative for Sefe. Leonid Michelson himself is on sanctions lists in the U.S., the U.K., and Canada, but not the EU. Green Party MP Anton Hofreiter called the Sefe deal “politically foolish.” Economist Guntram Wolff of the Brussels-based Bruegel Institute spoke of “genuine disappointment”: Every cubic meter of gas helps “the Russian war industry.”
The EU will ban Russian LNG from short-term contracts starting April 25, 2026. Long-term contracts such as the Yamal deal will be prohibited starting January 1, 2027. The regulations stem from the 19th sanctions package of October 2025.
The winners are U.S. exporters such as Cheniere and Venture Global, as well as Qatar. Both suppliers are expected to split Yamal’s 14.3% share of EU liquefied natural gas imports between them. This article was prepared for the German-Russian Chamber of Foreign Trade.
