Russian gas giant Gazprom has cut off gas to Austria over a contractual dispute as disagreements between the two continue to cause friction, the Associated Press reported on Saturday.
Austria’s multinational gas company OMV announced on Friday that Gazprom would cut off the delivery after OMV said it would stop paying for its gas after winning an arbitration valued at 230 million euros (around $242.5 million).
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer assured his citizens that the country has “full” storage facilities and “sufficient capacity to obtain gas from other regions,” insisting that Austria “cannot be blackmailed,” according to the AP.
“No one will freeze this winter, no home will be cold,” he assured his citizens in an announcement as Gazprom ended its delivery at 5 a.m. local time on Saturday morning.
Newsweek reached out by email on Saturday afternoon to Gazprom, OMV and the U.S. State Department for comment.
Russia had already cut off most natural gas supplies to Europe shortly after invading Ukraine in February 2022 as Moscow attempted to pressure the European Union (EU) to curtail its support for Kyiv.
The EU applied sanctions to oil imports from Russia, but no such ban applied to natural gas deliveries, allowing Russia’s overall delivery to remain at relatively the same level for a year. Deliveries continued to decrease as European nations find alternative sources.
Europe began working to diversify away from Russian gas supplies, giving rise to a reliance on Norwegian, Qatar and American gas starting the following year, according to Clean Energy Wire (CLEW), an independent, nonprofit platform that provides in-depth, analysis focused on the energy transition in Europe, particularly in Germany. Russia accounted for 40 percent of European gas prior to its invasion.
Ukraine has repeatedly pursued policy that would cut off Russian gas delivery as a means of continuing to deprive Moscow of profits that could help fund its continued war.
Russia and Ukraine had an agreement to deliver gas through the war-torn nation over a five-year period that is set to expire at the end of 2024, and Kyiv has said it will not renew the deal.
The Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod pipeline funneled gas from Siberia through the now Ukrainian-controlled Kursk region of Russia before passing through Ukraine to Slovakia. The pipeline still provides Ukraine with some income—roughly up to $1 billion in transit fees, compared to Russia’s $3 billion on sales.
Without Austria, Russia only delivers significant gas volumes to Hungary and Slovakia, which they receive via pipelines in Turkey and Ukraine, respectively, according to Reuters.
Gazprom, however, continues to seek alternative delivery routes and cut-price rates to entice European countries to continue buying its gas, such as the Czech Republic did after almost completely ending its reliance in 2023.
Azerbaijan has increasingly played a major role in helping Europe find alternative sources of oil as well as facilitate negotiations with Russia, due to the small Caucus nation’s tight ties with Moscow.
