ISTANBUL, 29 April 2022, (TON): European Union Member States, China and other countries paid Russia an estimated €63 billion for fossil fuels since the beginning of the war two months ago, new data finds.

According to a detailed tracker of Russian oil, gas and coal shipments and pipeline exports by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, the combination of continued imports of oil and gas through pipelines and high fuel prices have meant that Russia’s export revenue is still far higher than in earlier years.

Germany was the biggest importer, paying an estimated €9.1 billion for Russian fossil fuels while Italy paid €6.9 billion.

Head of the Center for Climate and Foreign Policy at the German Council on Foreign Relation said that while trade regularly occurs across different governance models, it is unacceptable that Germany continues high fossil fuel imports from a country which has blatantly and repeatedly violated international law.

She advocated for scaling up renewables in answer to this challenge, rather than fostering dependencies on fossil fuels, like fracking gas or nuclear energy.