Greece secures EU sanctions carve-out for billionaire’s LNG fleet

Vessels linked to the Greek shipping company Dynagas transported 53 cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) valued at an estimated 2.35 billion euros to European Union ports between January and July this year.

This amount corresponds to more than one-third of Russia’s LNG exports from the Arctic region.

The data was included in an analysis published on Tuesday, 18 August, by the German non-governmental organization Urgewald, based on shipping records from the consultancy firm Kpler.

Russia’s Yamal LNG facility is located at the specially constructed Sabetta Port on the northeastern coast of the Yamal Peninsula, overlooking the Gulf of Ob in the Arctic Ocean, where ice thickness reaches two metres during winter months.

Only specialized Arc7-class icebreaking tankers can load at the port throughout the year.

Dynagas, which operates five of the 14 300-metre tankers recorded as serving Sabetta Port this year, is one of three companies dominating the route.

The remaining tankers are operated by UK-based Seapeak, owned by New York-based investment firm Stonepeak, and Japan-based Mitsui OSK Lines.

Out of 162 cargoes leaving the Yamal facility, 149—representing 92.1% of exports—went to Europe. Urgewald calculated the total value of these shipments at 6.64 billion euros. Dynagas, the sole EU-based operator on the route, personally carried 57 of these cargoes.

In a statement to the EUObserver portal regarding the issue, Urgewald campaigner Alexander Kirk said: “European governments have had more than four years since the full-scale invasion to find alternative supply routes and end this dependence. It is unacceptable that Europe is still paying billions of euros for Russian LNG.”

In July, Greece blocked the EU’s 21st sanctions package until member states removed its proposed ban on LNG transport.

The ban clause was replaced with an exemption provision that specifically benefits Dynagas.

The Greek ambassador reportedly told representatives of other countries that banning all shipments would drive Dynagas—owned by billionaire George Prokopiou, whose fortune is estimated at 4.7 billion dollars (approximately 4 billion euros)—into bankruptcy.

Introduced to break the deadlock, the exception allows EU-based ship operators to continue transporting Russian LNG to non-EU buyers, primarily in Asia, under contracts signed before February 2022, after the EU import ban takes effect next year.

According to findings shared earlier this month by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), this exemption in practice benefits only Greece-based Dynagas, which accounted for 96% of the trade in question last year.

Operating a total of 27 gas carrier vessels, Prokopiou also owns the oil tanker company Dynacom. According to calculations by the Financial Times, Dynacom generated at least 915 million dollars (789 million euros) in earnings from Russian crude oil over three years.

Urgewald also identified that four lower ice-class tankers belonging to Dynagas loaded cargo at Yamal between 16 and 24 July, coinciding with the summer period when the Arctic route opens.

Three of these tankers—Clean Ocean, Clean Vision, and Clean Planet—have been barred from British ports, insurance, reinsurance, and other maritime services since October last year due to carrying Russian LNG.

The UK’s broader ban covering services for this trade will take effect in January. In the same month, as the EU halts imports, 92% of Yamal’s trade this year will come to an end.

The compromise reached with Greece, allowing EU vessels to transport Russian LNG to non-EU buyers, will remain valid until 25 July 2027 and will renew annually unless member states vote to terminate it.

Hungary and Slovakia obtained a similar exemption in 2022 for Russian crude oil arriving via the Druzhba pipeline. Four years on, this open-ended arrangement remains in force.