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Germany doubles gas purchases from Gazprom in March to 4.44 bln cubic meters — customs

In March, Germany increased Gazprom's gas supplies by 66.3% compared to March 2020, to 4.44 bln cubic meters

MOSCOW, May 4. / TASS /. Germany, a traditional leader in terms of purchases of Russian pipeline gas in Europe, continued to actively increase the pace of Russian gas purchases in March 2021, according to the Russian Federal Customs Service data released on Tuesday.

In March, Germany increased Gazprom's gas supplies by 66.3% compared to March 2020, to 4.44 bln cubic meters. In February 2021, purchases of Russian gas by Germany grew at the same rate. Italy placed second in terms of purchases of Russian pipeline gas in the European Union in March and bought 1.28 bln cubic meters of gas (a decrease of 41.5% in annual terms, but an increase of 467% in monthly terms). The third place belongs to France, which purchased 1.1 bln cubic meters of gas (an increase of 15.14% in annual terms and 29.42% in monthly terms).

Serbia increased gas purchases at a rapid pace in March 2021, receiving 245.5 mln cubic meters (an increase of 138% in annual terms and 2.86% in monthly terms), Bulgaria, which imported 269.8 mln cubic meters of Russian gas (an increase of 51.41% in annual terms and 24.48% in monthly terms), and Hungary, which bought 763.7 mln cubic meters of gas (an increase of 31.6% in annual terms and 42.58% in monthly terms). Greece in March this year increased gas supplies from Russia by 35.9% compared to March 2020, to 276.1 mln cubic meters. In comparison with February 2021, this figure increased by 22.5%. Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece and Serbia are rapidly increasing the pace of purchases of Russian gas since the beginning of 2021, according to data from the Federal Customs Service.

Russian gas supplies to Belarus in March 2021 increased by 9.8% in annual terms, to 1.967 bln cubic meters. This figure corresponds to the volume of Russian gas supplies in February 2021.

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