EU regulations on full phasing-out of Russian gas to go into force on Feb 3

BRUSSELS. Feb 2 (Interfax) - The regulation on full phasing-out of Russian gas imports according to the REPowerEU plan was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on Monday, it enters into force on February 3, European Commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said.

"It's basically six weeks after the regulation enters into force, the new short term and long term contracts will be prohibited," she told a briefing in Brussels.

As for the current contracts, she referred the journalists to the schedule for using the new regulation published on the website of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Energy.

The regulation "sets out the legal provisions to phase out natural gas imports from Russia. This historic decision, taken at the end of last year, aims to end the EU's dependence on gas from Russia, once and for all, by 2027," the directorate said on its website.

The adopted law prohibits the following types of supplies: under short-term contracts for LNG from April 25, 2026; under short-term contracts for pipeline gas from June 17, 2026; under long-term contracts for LNG imports from January 1, 2027; under long-term contracts for pipeline gas import from September 30, 2027.

"Exceptionally, member states can extend this deadline until October 31, 2027 in case their gas storage is filled below the required levels," the document said.

It also states that the European Commission intends to present by early 2026 a legislative proposal on banning oil import from Russia "as soon as possible but not later than 2027."

Responding to a question about the intentions stated by Hungary and Slovakia earlier to go to the EU court over the new regulations on Russian gas, Itkonen said it is the right of any member state. "We will then, of course, defend our proposal there," she said.