Austria halts half-century ties with Gazprom - Reuters

The catalyst that ended over 50 years of gas flows from the Russian state energy giant Gazprom to the Austrian group OMV earlier this month was the arrest of Russian gas as payment to cover the cost of an arbitration ruling.

Earlier this month, OMV announced that it had won arbitration in Germany against Gazprom for €230 million due to irregular supplies to its German subsidiary, and it would take immediate action to enforce the claim against Gazprom's invoices.

Three days later, Gazprom stopped supplying gas to the Austrian company.

According to three anonymous sources close to Gazprom and OMV, the Austrian firm seized gas supplies for October worth €230 million.

This is the first time a customer from the European Union has failed to pay for gas from Gazprom.

The suspension of supplies last week allows OMV to argue that Gazprom breached contracts, according to one of five sources.

The report suggests that Gazprom views the gas seizure as non-payment and thus halted deliveries.

OMV had been purchasing Soviet and Russian gas since 1968, and the events indicate that the Austrian firm is seeking ways to completely halt Russian gas purchases, despite its contracts with Gazprom being valid until 2040.

Sanctions against Gazprombank

Recently, the administration of US President Joe Biden was considering the possibility of adding Gazprombank to the sanctions list.

At the same time, amid the situation with Gazprom, gas prices in Europe increased, and gas futures reached their highest level in a year.

On Thursday, November 21, the US expanded its sanctions list regarding the Russian Federation. Gazprombank, BCS Bank, CentrCredit, and about 40 other institutions were added to the list.

Earlier, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer commented on Gazprom's decision, stating that the country would not yield to blackmail.