Russia will stop supplying gas to Austria from Saturday, Austrian oil and gas group OMV announced today, following a legal dispute with Russian state-owned company Gazprom.
OMV said Gazprom had informed it that gas deliveries would be stopped from Saturday, a decision that would end almost six decades of energy dependence on Austria, which this summer imported 90% of its gas from Russia, some of it via Ukraine.
"Russia is once again using energy as a weapon," Austrian Environment and Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler responded on the social network X.
"Austria has been preparing for this situation for a long time," the minister added, explaining that the energy supply to the population is guaranteed, with full storage tanks, with the capacity offered by gas pipelines from Italy and neighboring Germany.
As the first Western company to sign an energy contract with the Soviet Union in 1968, OMV has been expanding its supply sources since the start of the conflict in Ukraine.
Gazprom's decision was taken in response to OMV's announcement on Wednesday of an arbitration award that gives it the right to claim €230 million in compensation for past supply problems.
The company - almost one-third owned by the Austrian state - said it was expecting a deterioration in its contractual relationship with Gazprom Export, including a possible interruption of gas supplies.
