Gazprom turned off the taps on gas heading to Austria early Saturday after Austrian energy company OMV announced that it would stop paying for deliveries after winning a €230 million arbitration award from the International Chamber of Commerce related to a contractual dispute with the Russian gas giant.
Austria had relied on cheap, dependable pipeline-delivered Russian gas since the 1960s, with deliveries helping to ensure the Central European nation’s energy security, and fueling an ‘economic miracle’ which made Austria one of the wealthiest countries in the EU by per capita GDP.
Vienna is now expected to buy gas from Germany, presumably paying a premium for the privilege, since Berlin itself now relies on imports of liquefied natural gas – which is more expensive owing to the need to transport it by ship, compress and decompress it.
Austria’s economy slipped into recession in 2023, with 3 in 4 local companies fearing deindustrialization, according to a recent Deloitte survey.
Industry accounts for about 22% of Austria’s GDP. A prolonged shutoff of Russian gas would likely exacerbate the country’s economic woes, particularly with European gas prices hitting their 2024 high in spot trading amid tight supply as winter approaches.
Although Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said that Vienna had been “preparing” for Gazprom’s decision in a televised address to the nation on Friday, his coalition government had previously announced plans to end Russian gas imports only by 2027.
Nehammer's coalition suffered a dramatic defeat in elections in September, with the opposition Freedom Party of Austria winning 28.8% of the vote and a plurality of seats. Nehammer has vowed not to form a coalition with the opposition party, which has urged Vienna to keep Russian gas a part of Austria’s energy mix, instead seeking an alliance with smaller parties, including the Social Democratic Party of Austria and the New Austria and Liberal Forum party.