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4 I Companies & Markets bne August 2023
Marek Slusarczyk
OMV head says his country will continue to source most of its gas from Russia
Jennifer DeLay
Alfred Stern, CEO of the Austrian energy group OMV, has said that his company will continue to source the majority of its natural gas supplies from Russia in the winter of 2023/2024, even though it has signed contracts that would allow it to import enough to cover its needs from other suppliers.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Stern pointed out that the long-term take-or-pay contract that OMV signed with Russia’s Gazprom in 2018 was still valid. He stated that the Austrian company had no intention of seeking to exit this contract, which expires in 2040.
“As long as Gazprom will supply ... we will continue to take these quantities from Gazprom,” he declared.
www.bne.eu
OMV’s contract does not violate any rules or laws governing trade with Russia. The EU has imposed sanctions that severely limit the bloc’s member states from purchasing Russian crude oil and petroleum products, but it has not taken similar steps to restrict gas imports. Even so, Brussels has been pressing the EU’s member states, including Austria, to curtail imports of Russian gas.
Despite this lack of sanctions, OMV has drawn some criticism for its continued dealings with Gazprom. As such, the
FT asked Stern whether he would welcome EU sanctions
on Russian gas or see them as a means of improving his company’s reputation. In response, the CEO declined to express any policy preferences, saying that the matter was “for policymakers to decide.”