Sanctions have hit the Russian economy hard, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but more measures are likely coming, according to a report by the Institute of International Finance (IIF).
Political considerations aside, quickly replacing Russian oil and natural gas imports would certainly be an extremely difficult undertaking for Europe, reports the IIF. To assess which countries could be facing the biggest challenges and how an embargo on oil exports would differ from one on natural gas, IIF looked at two aspects: the role Russian imports of the two energy sources play in the overall energy supply in individual countries, and Russia’s share of total imports of oil and natural gas.
European countries are generally more reliant on oil and petroleum products than natural gas, with the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary and Italy the exceptions. Overall, Russian energy sources play the largest role for the Netherlands, Hungary and Slovakia (at around 55 percent to
