Russian state-owned natural gas company Gazprom has halted gas deliveries to Austria on the morning of November 16.
This was confirmed by Austria’s gas supplier, OMV, which stated that payments for gas had been suspended following a ruling by the Arbitration Court.
The official cutoff of supplies occurred early on Saturday after Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer held a press conference on Friday, emphasizing that Austria had secured alternative fuel supplies for this winter.
OMV announced that it would cease paying for Gazprom’s gas in order to compensate for a compensation payment of 230 million euros awarded to it by the International Chamber of Commerce due to a previous gas supply disruption to its German subsidiary.
Authorities confirmed that the supplies were stopped at 06:00 on Saturday.
Earlier in the week, OMV had stated that it had sufficient reserves to supply its customers with gas if Gazprom were to stop deliveries, adding that Austria’s reserves were over 90% full.
In 2022, Russia halted nearly all natural gas deliveries to Europe, demanding that consumers pay for gas in Russian rubles. European leaders argued that this was energy blackmail by Moscow in response to Europe’s support for Ukraine, after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the neighboring state.
European governments were forced to seek alternative supplies at higher prices, with most liquefied natural gas now being delivered to Europe by ship from the United States and Qatar.
According to data, Austria had been heavily dependent on Russian gas supplies, with 98% of its natural gas imported from Russia in December of the previous year.
