Russia’s state-owned natural gas company Gazprom has stopped supplies to Austria, officials said.
The Vienna-based utility company OMV confirmed the news after it said it would stop payments for the gas following an arbitration award.
The official cut-off of supplies before dawn on Saturday came after Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer held a hastily called news conference to emphasise his country has a secure supply of alternative fuel for this winter.
OMV said it would stop paying for Gazprom gas to its Austrian arm to offset a 230 million euro (£191 million) arbitration award from the International Chamber of Commerce over an earlier cut-off of gas to its German subsidiary.
The Austrian utility firm said in an email that no gas delivery was made from 6am on Saturday (5am GMT).
OMV said on Wednesday it had sufficient stocks to provide gas to its customers in case of a potential disruption by Gazprom, and said storage in Austria was at more than 90%.
“Once again Putin is using energy as a weapon,” EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen wrote in a post on X.
“He is trying to blackmail Austria and Europe by cutting gas supplies. We are prepared for this and ready for the winter.”
Russia cut off most natural gas supplies to Europe in 2022, citing disputes over payment in roubles, a move European leaders described as energy blackmail over their support for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.
European governments had to scramble to line up alternative supplies at higher prices, much of it liquefied natural gas brought by ship from the US and Qatar.
Austria gets the bulk of its natural gas from Russia, as much as 98% in December last year, according to Energy Minister Lenore Gewessler.
