The Austrian company OMV terminated the contract with the Russian “Gazprom” due to significant violations of the contract by the Russian side.
This was reported by the press service of OMV.
The company points to the termination of gas supplies by “Gazprom” from November 16, 2024. The agreement itself was concluded in 2006, it was supposed to be valid until 2040. Previously, OMV received gas in the volume of about 7 400 MW per hour.
OMV noted that the termination of the contract with "Gazprom" significantly reduces risks, and the volumes of gas supplies are fully diversified at the expense of alternative sources.
The company already had other sources of gas supply, in particular from Norway, and additional volumes of liquefied natural gas. Now the level of the companyʼs gas reserves is more than 90%. Therefore, OMV will be able to continue supplying gas to its customers, even if the contract with “Gazprom” is terminated.
And yet, be that as it may, the cooperation between the Austrian and Russian companies, which has been going on since 1968, would end already in 2025: at the end of this year, the transit contract for the supply of Russian natural gas through a pipeline through Ukraine and Slovakia expires. And Ukraine has already declared that it will not extend the transit agreement with the Russian state-owned “Gazprom” in order to deprive Russia of the profits that finance the war against Ukraine.
What preceded
In 1968, the Austrian OMV became the first Western company to sign a gas supply contract with the USSR.
But from mid-November 2024, OMV will not receive gas from “Gazprom”. The reason for the stoppage of deliveries was a dispute between the parties. The court ruled that “Gazprom” must pay damages of €230 million with interest to OMV due to irregular deliveries and the complete cessation of supplies to Germany in September 2022.
OMV said it would offset this amount through payments for gas exports to Austria. The Russian side recognized this as non-payment for gas supplies and stopped them. Already on November 25, Austria confiscated €230 million worth of Russian gas.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine please follow us on X.