Russia's state-owned natural gas company Gazprom ceased supplies to Austria early Saturday, as confirmed by the Vienna-based utility OMV. This action followed OMV's decision to halt payments for the gas in response to an arbitration award. The official termination of supplies occurred before dawn on Saturday, after Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer held a press conference to assure the public of the country's secure alternative fuel supply for the winter.
OMV announced that it would no longer pay for Gazprom gas to its Austrian arm, citing a 230 million-euro ($242 million) arbitration award it received from the International Chamber of Commerce related to a previous gas cutoff to its German subsidiary. The utility stated via email that no gas deliveries were made starting at 6 a.m. on Saturday.
