MOSCOW: Russia's Gazprom natural gas exports outside the former Soviet Union in 2021 increased by 5.8 billion cubic metres (bcm) to 185.1 bcm, it said on Sunday, while it likely missed its target for Europe.

Russian gas exports to Europe are under scrutiny after prices in the region reached all-time highs last month, with some politicians and experts accusing Gazprom of undersupplying the region as a way of pressuring authorities to certify the new Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

Gazprom said it met all its contractual obligations for deliveries to Europe and had increased exports to Germany by 10.5%, to Turkey by 63% and to Italy by 20.3%.

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However, it had planned to deliver 183 bcm of gas to Europe and Turkey and likely fell short of that as the 185.1 bcm figure includes China, where it began pipeline exports in 2019.

Gazprom did not provide a full-year export figure for China but in the first nine months reported exports of 7.1 bcm.

Gazprom said its gas production rose by 62.2 bcm to 514.8 bcm, its highest in 13 years. Domestic gas supplies rose by 31.9 bcm to 257.8 bcm.

The company has said it expects record-high earnings for 2021 helped by high prices in Europe.