MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th July, 2023) Austrian oil and gas company OMV will continue to buy a major part of its gas from Russia and is not planning to terminate a long-term contract with Russian energy giant Gazprom despite securing alternative contracts from other sources to cover Austria's energy imports needs, OMV Group CEO Alfred Stern said on Sunday.
"As long as Gazprom will supply ... we will continue to take these quantities from Gazprom ... There is an obligation we have as an industrial company to ensure that we use those sources as long as they are legally acceptable," Stern told the Financial Times newspaper.
The Austrian energy giant's chief also said that the issue of possible Western sanctions on Russian gas was "for policymakers to decide" but warned that "eliminating certain sources will also drive price rises," as quoted by the newspaper.
Stern added that OMV was not making any plans to exit its long-term supply contract with Gazprom, which had been extended in 2018 until 2040.
Former OMV CEO Gerhard Roiss said in early June that Austria should prepare for the fact that Russian gas supplies through Ukraine would cease by the end of 2024, when the current transit contract would expire.
Last week, Austrian Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler said that Russia still remained Austria's main supplier of gas. The minister noted that receiving gas from Russia was an unreliable option and it is necessary to make efforts to decrease dependence on Russian energy. Gazprom has continuously said that the company met all of its obligations to European consumers.
The European Union did not impose sanctions against Russian gas supplies after the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, but most European countries decided to reduce imports of Russian gas.
