VIENNA (AP) — Russia's state-run natural gas company Gazprom suspended supplies to Austria early Saturday after announcing it would stop paying for gas following an arbitration award, according to Vienna-based utility OMV. did.
Supplies were officially suspended in the early hours of Saturday after Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer held a hasty press conference on Friday to stress that the country had a reliable supply of alternative fuels for this winter.
OMV has ordered Gazprom gas payments to an Austrian company to offset a 230 million euro ($242 million) arbitration award it obtained from the International Chamber of Commerce over an earlier gas supply cutoff to its German subsidiary. announced that it would be discontinued.
The Austrian power company said in an email that no gas deliveries had been made since 6 a.m. Saturday.
OMV said on Wednesday that it had enough stocks to supply gas to customers in case of disruptions by Gazprom, and said the storage rate in Austria was more than 90%.
Russia cut off most natural gas supplies to Europe in 2022, citing a dispute over payments in rubles, a move European leaders branded as energy blackmail over Ukraine's support for Russian aggression. expressed.
European governments had to scramble to source higher-priced alternative supplies, often liquefied natural gas shipped in from the United States and Qatar.
Austria gets most of its natural gas from Russia, 98% as of December, Energy Minister Lenore Gewessler said.
