Austrian businesses still "addicted" to Russian gas, Europe speaks out about Ukraine's decision regarding Gazprom

On October 31, a statement from OMV (Austria) said that the company purchased an average of 5.4 terawatt hours per month - more than 55 million m³ of Russian gas in the third quarter of 2023, double the same period last year.

OMV meets about 30% of Austria's gas needs. (Source: Top War)

OMV said the gas imports are part of the company's long-standing agreement with Russia's Gazprom.

According to the report, in the third quarter of 2022, OMV imported a total of 2.5 terawatt hours - more than 25 million m³ of gas from Gazprom to supply Austria and Germany. In the fourth quarter of 2022, the supply increased slightly to 2.8 terawatt hours (i.e. 29 million m³), ​​with all the gas going to Austria.

In the first quarter of this year, OMV purchased an average of 4.8 terawatt hours (49.6 million m³) of gas from Gazprom for supply to Austria. In the second quarter of 2023, the gas imports reached 4.9 terawatt hours.

OMV meets about 30% of Austria's gas needs.

Last year, the company was one of the first to agree to pay its bills for Russian gas in rubles under a new payment mechanism introduced by Moscow.

At the time, OMV CEO Alfred Stern said that giving up Russian gas was not feasible for Austria and would have serious consequences for the country's economy and energy security.

Mr Stern recently told the Financial Times that OMV would stick to its long-term contract with Gazprom and had no plans to exit the deal anytime soon, which was signed in 2018 and runs until 2040.

* On the same day, European Commission spokesman Tim McPhie said the European Union (EU) could not yet assess the consequences of Ukraine's decision not to extend the agreement to transport gas from Russia to the region.

The contract between Gazprom and its Ukrainian partner Naftogaz expires in 2024. That means Moscow's gas flows through its Eastern European neighbor will stop unless the contract is extended.

“The current contract expires on December 31, 2024. We have noted Kiev’s decision but it is too early to assess the possible consequences of that decision,” said Tim McPhie.

Previously, on October 29, Naftogaz head Aleksey Chernyshov announced that the company had no intention of extending the agreement with Gazprom.

He stressed that Ukraine will immediately terminate the contract for transit of Russian gas.

Asked whether the country was ready to extend the contract as requested by the EU, Mr Chernyshov revealed that there had been no contact from the 27-member bloc on the matter so far.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/doanh-nghiep-ao-van-nghien-khi-dot-nga-chau-au-len-tieng-ve-quyet-dinh-cua-ukraine-lien-quan-gazprom-248249.html