Austria says Russia's Gazprom will cut off natural gas supply this weekend
Austria's chancellor says Russia’s state-owned natural gas company Gazrom will cut off supplies early Saturday to Austrian utility OMV
VIENNA — Russia’s state-owned natural gas company Gazprom will cut off supplies to Austria’s OMV utility early Saturday, Austria’s chancellor said, adding that his country’s underground gas storage was full and that it had alternative, non-Russia supplies.
The cutoff follows OMV’s announcement that it would stop paying for Gazprom gas to its Austrian arm to offset a 230 million-euro ($242 million) arbitration award it won over an earlier cutoff of gas to its German subsidiary.
Chancellor Karl Nehammer said Friday that Austria has a secure supply of alternative fuel and that “no one will freeze this winter, no home will be cold.”
“Our gas storage facilities are full and we have sufficient capacity to obtain gas from other regions," Nehammer said in a hastily called appearance at the chancellery. “We cannot be blackmailed.”
OMV gave notice of the cutoff in a trading statement on the Central European Gas Hub website. An OMV spokesperson couldn't be reached for comment. Gazprom had no immediate comment.
Russia cut off most natural gas supplies to Europe in 2022, citing disputes over payment in rubles, a move European leaders described as energy blackmail over their support for Ukraine against Russia's invasion. The cutoff sent gas prices soaring and contributed to a sharp burst of inflation that went into double digits in October 2022, but has since subsided.
European governments had to scramble to line up alternative supplies at higher prices, much of it liquefied natural gas brought by ship from the U.S. and Qatar.
Still, three European countries — Austria, Slovakia and Hungary — have
Read more on abcnews.go.com
