While our neighboring countries have reduced their gas supplies from Russia to a negligible percentage, in Austria in July 66 percent still came from the aggressor’s country, Ukraine. E-Control board member Alfons Haber is now demanding that the country’s main energy suppliers disclose their gas sources.
Austria is indirectly helping to finance Russia’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine as the country continues to import large quantities of natural gas from Russia, the top EU official in Austria, Martin Selmayr, said last week. He exaggeratedly summarized this as ‘blood money’, was harshly criticized and was even summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Figures show: dependence remains high
A look at the numbers shows: Selmayr probably wasn’t so wrong. Although the credo across the EU is to become as independent as possible from suppliers that were once so cheap, the quantities supplied in this country have only been significantly reduced.
While Italy was able to reduce imports from 40 to 3 percent, Germany even managed to reduce imports from 55 to 0 percent – on average in the EU the value was reduced from 40 to 10 percent, only Austria lags behind with 55 percent of gas from Russia (on an annual basis) is clearly behind. Before the war, 80 percent came from the current aggressor.
E-Control wants to reduce its share
If E-Control board member Alfons Haber has his way, the major energy suppliers in Austria will have to disclose their gas sources in the future – for example: “who supplies them with the gas, which countries are they and through which lines does this happen.” come to Austria,” Haber said on Thursday evening in the ORF business magazine “Eco”. So far that has not been the case. According to E-Control, this could further reduce Austria’s dependence on Russian gas.
According to AGGM board member Bernhard Painz, the fact that Germany was able to reduce its share in this way was inevitable because “the Nord Stream pipeline had simply blown up and there was therefore no other option but to look for alternatives.” Austrian Gas Grid Management AG (AGGM) is responsible for the coordination and control of the gas network in Austria.
Austria obliged to accept
In addition, OMV has supply contracts with the Russian Gazprom group until 2040 and continues to purchase natural gas from Russia. The agreement concluded at the time under ex-chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) and ex-OMV boss Rainer Seele stipulates that Russia will supply cheap gas to Austria, but that the country also undertakes to actually purchase the gas. The exact details and possible exit options are not known due to confidentiality clauses.
Ministry welcomes transparency initiative
The Ministry of Energy told Eco that it “naturally welcomes all steps towards greater transparency in gas supply”. An E-Control scheme is currently being assessed, “which requires gas suppliers to be more transparent towards E-Control about their supply contracts and the countries of origin of the gas they purchase”.
In order to provide reliable information about the origin of the natural gas, an “EU-wide standardized proof of origin” would be required, a ministry spokesperson told “Eco”.
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.
