To become more independent of Russian gas, the federal government needs insight into the secret contracts between OMV and the Russian Gazprom. But you simply have no insight, Chancellor Karl Nehammer (ÖVP) stressed in February. However, research now shows how he would have access to it anyway.
“I currently do not have this right, not even as a shareholder of OMV”, Nehammer emphasized in an interview with “Puls24”. In any case, he and his colleagues in the federal government would not be aware of the contents of the treaty. But you have to think about how you can still access it – after all, what exactly has been agreed with Gazprom is decisive in order to finally break free from gas supplies from Russia.
Explosive take-or-pay clause
It is already common knowledge that there should be a so-called take-or-pay clause – in other words, you are obliged to pay for a certain amount of gas, regardless of whether you actually purchase it or not.
Now, as a 31.5 percent shareholder in the former state-owned company OMV, the state has two commissioners — but they don’t have access to the “private contracts,” as state investment agency ÖBAG explained to investigative journalist Michael Nikbakhsh.
Insiders are not allowed to speak
In fact, apparently only a very small circle has real access to the secret treaty. As in other such agreements, these are OMV’s board of directors, supervisory board and all those people involved in the preparation and management of the contract Insight, OMV contradicts Nikbakhsh against ÖBAG’s arguments. However, confidential content should not be passed on to third parties, the group stressed in a statement.
Insight through a small detour?
But now there is a government agency that has received the “contractual basis” very well, as the journalist reports in his podcast “Die Dunkelkammer”: namely the electricity and gas regulator E-Control. This was confirmed by the press service when asked. The question now is which details E-Control could provide for clarification, but this could turn out to be very useful for the federal government.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
