Russia’s state-owned natural gas company Gazprom has stopped supplies to Austria, officials said.
The Vienna-based utility company OMV confirmed the news after it said it would stop payments for the gas following an arbitration award.
The official cut-off of supplies before dawn on Saturday came after Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer held a hastily called news conference to emphasise his country has a secure supply of alternative fuel for this winter.
OMV said it would stop paying for Gazprom gas to its Austrian arm to offset a 230 million euro (£191 million) arbitration award from the International Chamber of Commerce over an earlier cut-off of gas to its German subsidiary.
#OMV successfully receives arbitral award in relation to its German gas supplies from Gazprom Export.
— OMV Group (@omv) November 13, 2024
The Austrian utility firm said in an email that no gas delivery was made from 6am on Saturday (5am GMT).
OMV said on Wednesday it had sufficient stocks to provide gas to its customers in case of a potential disruption by Gazprom, and said storage in Austria was at more than 90%.
Russia cut off most natural gas supplies to Europe in 2022, citing disputes over payment in roubles, a move European leaders described as energy blackmail over their support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.
European governments had to scramble to line up alternative supplies at higher prices, much of it liquefied natural gas brought by ship from the US and Qatar.
Austria gets the bulk of its natural gas from Russia, as much as 98% in December last year, according to Energy Minister Lenore Gewessler.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel