Russian Gazprom posts second-quarter loss as exports to Europe fall

Russian gas giant Gazprom posted a loss of 18.6 billion rubles (around CZK 4.3 billion) in the second quarter of this year, compared with a profit of 1.03 trillion rubles (nearly CZK 240 billion) a year earlier. Reuters reported the results, which were hit by a sharp decline in exports to Europe.

The company also announced that its net profit for the first half of the year fell to 296 billion rubles from 2.5 trillion rubles a year earlier. „The decline in exports to Europe was partially offset by deliveries to China, which continue to grow,“ said Gazprom Deputy CEO Famil Sadygov. He also pointed to the positive impact of the company’s oil industry activities.

Gazprom has stopped publishing its export figures. According to Reuters calculations, the company’s deliveries to Europe totalled around 15 billion cubic metres between January and July, compared with 62 billion cubic metres for the whole of last year.

Gazprom has the world’s largest natural gas reserves and holds a monopoly on exports of this strategically important commodity from Russia via pipelines.

The situation surrounding Russian gas supplies to Europe became more complicated when Russia launched its attack on Ukraine in February last year and the European Union responded with a series of anti-Russian sanctions. Among other measures, Russia halted operations on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline last year. It had delivered Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea and could transport up to 167 million cubic metres per day.