Russia has told Austria it is suspending gas supplies from today in a development that signals the imminent end of Moscow’s last remaining gas flows to Europe.
In a notice posted on the Central European Gas Hub platform, OMV said Gazprom had announced that it would stop supplying gas to Austria from today.
The suspension means Russia will now only supply significant quantities of gas to Hungary and Slovakia.
Austria was the first Western European country to buy Russian gas when the USSR signed a gas deal in 1968.
This year, the relationship will end after a contractual dispute between Russia’s Gazprom and Austria’s OMV.
Austria is one of the few European countries still dependent on Russian gas as much of the continent has cut imports since Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine.
OMV said it was preparing for a possible cutoff of Russian gas and could still supply gas to its customers by importing via Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehamer said Austria’s large gas storage facilities are 93 percent full and the country is well equipped to deal with Russia “turning off the taps.”
