Russia‘s state-owned natural gas company Gazprom has stopped supplies to Austria, as officials sought to swiftly quell fears over sufficient fuel for the winter.
Vienna-based utility company OMV confirmed the news after it said it would stop payments for the gas following an arbitration award.
Austria gets the bulk of its natural gas from Russia, as much as 98 per cent in December last year, according to Energy Minister Lenore Gewessler.
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 to see the country through the colder months.
He said at the conference: ‘Austria is well prepared for the loss of Russian gas. The storage facilities are in place and supplies are secure.
‘The Republic has a strategic reserve that is there to compensate for any shortages. We cannot be blackmailed.’
Nehammer also posted a message on X assuring that ‘no one will freeze in the winter, no home will remain cold.’
OMV said it would stop paying for Gazprom gas to its Austrian arm to offset a €230 million (£191 million) arbitration award from the International Chamber of Commerce over an earlier cut-off of gas to its German subsidiary.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer sought to swiftly quell fears over sufficient fuel for the winter after Russia ‘s state-owned natural gas company Gazprom stopped supplies
The official cut-off of Gazprom’s gas supplies to Austria came before dawn on Saturday
The latest shut off signals a fast-approaching end to Moscow supplying Europe with gas
The Austrian utility firm said in an email no gas delivery was made from 5am (UK time) on Saturday.
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 per cent.
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.
The latest shut off signals a fast-approaching end to Moscow supplying Europe with natural gas.
Russia’s oldest gas-export route to Europe, a pipeline dating back to Soviet days via Ukraine, is set to shut at the end of this year.
The majority of gas exports will now only go to Hungary, via a pipeline that mostly runs through Turkey, and Slovakia.
In contrast, Russia met 40 per cent of the European Union’s gas needs before Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Austria was getting the bulk of its natural gas from Russia, as much as 98 per cent in December last year, according to Energy Minister Lenore Gewessler
OMV said it would stop paying for Gazprom gas to its Austrian arm to offset a €230 million (£191 million) arbitration award from the International Chamber of Commerce over an earlier cut-off of gas to its German subsidiary