SPAIN BIGGEST EUROPEAN BUYER OF RUSSIAN GAS

MADRID, MAY 19 /SRNA - RIA Novosti/ - Spain became the largest buyer of Russian gas among EU countries in March, with imports reaching almost 360 million euros, according to data published today by the European statistics agency Eurostat.

In March, Spanish importers imported gas through pipelines and liquefied natural gas from Russia in a total value of 358.9 million euros.

Spain thus became the largest buyer of Russian gas in the EU, after being third the previous month.

Among the five largest European buyers of Russian gas were France with imports worth 320.4 million euros, Belgium with 253.8 million euros, Hungary with 174.2 million euros and Greece with total gas imports in the amount of 103.8 million euros.

In total, the EU increased its purchase of Russian gas 1.5 times in March, with a total value of 1.4 billion euros.