Greece opposes the new EU sanctions package against Russian gas to protect Dynagas, a shipping company owned by Greek magnate George Procopiou, which specializes in transporting Russian cargo from a liquefied natural gas plant in the Arctic region, reports the Financial Times, writes UNN.
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Athens' ambassador to the EU told his fellow envoys on Wednesday that planned sanctions, which would ban the transportation of Russian LNG to third countries, would "destroy" Dynagas, according to two sources informed about his remarks.
Two other people confirmed that the ambassador cited Dynagas as the reason Greece cannot support the sanctions.
According to Equasis, a maritime data portal, Dynagas operates 27 gas tankers. These include a third of the fleet of Arc7 tankers, which are built to operate in icy Arctic waters near the Yamal LNG plant.
Greece's objection delayed approval of the 21st EU sanctions package against Russia, which requires unanimous support, by a week, leaving other measures, such as sanctions against more banks, cryptocurrency networks, and military-industrial companies, in limbo.
The package also includes a mechanism to lower the price cap on Russian oil, above which companies cannot legally purchase and transport it.
Envoys on Wednesday evening were forced to agree to an emergency extension of the existing price of $44.10 per barrel for a week to gain more time for negotiations. Without a decision, the price would have risen significantly due to the increase in global prices caused by the war with Iran, bringing Moscow billions in additional revenue.
The extension was also designed to study the economic and technical consequences of the sanctions, including the ban on LNG transportation, according to an EU official informed about the decision.
Other EU diplomats argue that all member states have lost some business as a result of the sanctions in order to inflict economic damage on Moscow.
Kaja Kallas, the EU's top diplomat, said on Monday she regrets that the EU has not reached an agreement on the 21st package. "Of course, member states have different reasons [for opposing it]," she said.
"Our goal is to reach an agreement. If we don't have an agreement, then we will start working on a Plan B," Kallas added, referring to the oil price cap.
Procopiou owns both Dynagas and Dynacom, an oil tanker business that has earned at least $915 million from trading Russian oil over the past three years — more than any other Greek shipping company, the publication writes.
According to FT calculations using data from Kpler, a data processing and analytics company, Dynagas has transported over 10 million tons of Russian LNG since the beginning of 2025 on 11 vessels. The FT identified 11 Dynagas vessels that made 144 voyages during this period.