Dear Mr. Merz,
Nearly three years after Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Germany stands at a crossroads. As the largest gas consumer in the EU, Germany bears a particular responsibility to fully phase out the use of Russian natural gas and thus end the financial support of the criminal Russian regime.
We are deeply concerned that the state-owned German company SEFE dramatically increased its purchases of Russian LNG last year and that politicians are now openly discussing the activation of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Therefore, together with many people in Germany and Ukraine, we urge you: Make a clear policy decision against Russian LNG imports and the activation of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
SEFE’s Russian LNG shipments jumped from 8 cargoes in 2023 to 49 in 2024. The company continues to import record volumes of Russian LNG in 2025: from January to March alone, it received 13 shipments. For comparison: EU imports of Russian LNG rose by 19% in 2024 — but SEFE’s volume increase far exceeds the EU average. In 2024, SEFE was solely responsible for 85% of Yamal LNG deliveries to the Dunkirk terminal. Media reports also indicate that a Russian company involved in these deliveries is on the EU sanctions list.
According to ACER, SEFE bought 5.66 billion cubic meters of Russian LNG in 2024 — significantly more than the 3.9 billion cubic meters it was contractually obligated to buy, resulting in an additional €300 million paid for Russian LNG. Eurostat data shows that in Q4 2024, Russian LNG was sold on the EU market at a 274% price premium compared to Q1 2021. This means SEFE is substantially contributing to Russia’s growing revenues from LNG trade — revenues that now exceed the humanitarian aid Ukraine receives from the EU.
As EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen put it: Since the beginning of the war of aggression, the EU has imported fossil energy from Russia worth the equivalent of 2,400 F-35 fighter jets.
All this despite promises made by the previous German government to gradually phase out Russian gas imports. We therefore urge you to change course and stop SEFE’s indirect support of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
In recent months, plans by US billionaire Lynch to purchase the Nord Stream 2 pipeline have also become public. Support for putting the pipeline into operation has even come from political voices such as CDU Bundestag member Thomas Bareiß. This mega pipeline would reestablish Germany’s dependency on the Russian regime and make our economy vulnerable once again through our own gas consumption. It is the largest fossil fuel project in Europe: if repaired and operated at full capacity, it would emit 100 million tons of CO2 annually — not including the extremely climate-damaging methane emissions from upstream Russian gas production.
Dishonest speculation about activating Nord Stream 2 damages Germany’s reputation, harms Ukraine, and emboldens Russia in its strategy of asserting dominance over post-Soviet states through hybrid warfare and disinformation campaigns. It also undermines the political goals of the EU, the G7, and the international community to end dependency on Russian energy imports.
Dear Mr. Merz, please put an end to all efforts to make Germany dependent again on Russian gas. Stand with Ukraine and with European partners such as Poland and the Baltic States, and take a clear stance against putting Nord Stream 2 into operation.
In times of geopolitical uncertainty, it is all the more important that the future German government clearly commits to the energy transition rather than reviving old supply relationships with Russia. Only the consistent expansion of energy efficiency and renewable energy will make us independent of expensive energy imports and ensure a climate-friendly and resilient energy system for the future.
Sincerely,
Svitlana Romanko, Founder and Executive Director, Razom We Stand
Sascha Müller-Kraenner, Executive Director, Environmental Action Germany (Deutsche Umwelthilfe e.V.)
Sebastian Rötters, Energy Campaigner, Urgewald e.V.
Nezir Sinani, Executive Director, B4Ukraine Coalition
Tina Loeffelbein, Project and Campaign Lead, Gaswende
Alex Prezanti and Emily Patterson, Co-Executive Directors, State Capture Accountability Project
Fabian Holzheid, Political Director, Environmental Institute Munich (Umweltinstitut München e.V.)