Russian Gas Exports to Europe Hit a 50-Year Low

Russian pipeline gas exports to Europe have hit a historic low for the last fifty years, reaching a figure not recorded since the years of Leonid Brezhnev's rule. This is reported by the Reuters agency, citing its own calculations. This testifies to the tectonic shifts that have occurred in the energy market and the almost complete collapse of the once-close gas relations between Europe and Russia.

According to the agency's data, in the first ten months of 2025, the Russian company "Gazprom" supplied only 14.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas to European consumers. This is 45% less than in the same period of the previous year, 2024, which underscores the rapid pace of the decline. Such low volumes were last recorded in the early 1970s, when the Soviet Union, led by Leonid Brezhnev, was just beginning its "gas diplomacy" by signing the first contract with Austria. That period is considered the dawn of gas supplies from the USSR to Europe, and the current figures indicate that the sector has returned to its starting point of development.

The historical comparison shows how deep the decline is. Already by 1975, 19.3 billion cubic meters of gas were exported from the USSR to Europe. And in 1980, after the famous "gas for pipes" deal with West Germany, that number had reached an impressive 54.8 billion cubic meters. Against the backdrop of these figures, the current 14.7 billion speaks not just of a simple decline, but of the loss of a strategically important market.

The most dramatic picture emerges when comparing the current situation with the figures before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. At that time, pipeline gas exports from Russia to Europe reached 200 billion cubic meters per year. This means that in recent years, the volume of supplies has decreased by more than 12 times. In fact, an entire era, during which cheap Russian gas was one of the most important components of the European economy, and its sale was one of the pillars of the Russian budget, is approaching its logical conclusion, creating new realities on the global energy map.