Reuters named the reason for stopping Gazprom's supplies to Austria's OMV

Russian "Gazprom" stopped gas supplies to Austria after the Austrian company OMV did not pay the amount of € 230 million for the relevant supplies. This was reported by Reuters on November 25, citing data from five sources.

"The trigger that ended more than 50 years of gas flows from Russian state energy giant Gazprom to OMV was the Austrian group's withdrawal of Russian gas as payment to cover the cost of an arbitration award," the paper said.

The agency's source noted that this case was the first time in history when a buyer from Europe did not pay Russia for the gas it received. The agency recalled that Russia has continued to supply gas to Austria since the USSR started it in 1968.

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Before that, on November 21, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that Russia would not do charity and supply gas to Austria after non-payment by oil and gas company OMV for the supplied fuel. Earlier, OMV claimed victory in an arbitration case over a dispute with Gazprom Export after temporarily suspending supplies in the fall of 2022. In addition, the company expressed its intention to recover €230 million from Gazprom.

Earlier, on November 18, publicist, ex-presidential candidate in Austria Gerald Gros said that in the country after the refusal of gas supplies from the Russian company Gazprom in 2025, prices for blue fuel will rise even more. He noted that they will rise by almost 30%.

On the same day, Maxim Chirkov, an associate professor at the Department of Economic Policy and Economic Measurements of the State University of Economics, told Izvestia that the termination of gas supplies to the OMV energy company from Russia's Gazprom Export is very negative for the Austrian economy. In addition, he did not rule out a further increase in the cost of gas on the European market.