INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russia is expected to stop delivering gas to Austria from Saturday, said a spokeswoman for OMV, the Alpine nation's energy company."We
have been informed" by Russian energy giant Gazprom that it will no longer deliver Russian gas, the OMV spokeswoman told AFP on
Friday.Austria has long been heavily dependent on Russian gas, but its environment minister Leonore Gewessler insisted the energy supply was
secure."Russia is once again using energy as a weapon
Austria has been preparing for this situation for a long time," Gewessler posted on X.Domestic gas storage facilities were full and
currently able to meet more than one year's consumption for Austria, she added.On Wednesday, OMV announced it had received an award of 230
million euros ($243 million) after launching arbitration proceedings against Gazprom over its irregular German gas supplies.The award was
given under the rules of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).OMV said the award would be set off "with immediate effect" against its
payments due to Gazprom."It is expected that there may be a deterioration of the contractual relationship..
with Gazprom Export, including a potential halt of gas supply," OMV said.Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, countries across the EU have
worked to shift their dependency away from Russian gas.
