As of: February 13, 2024, 11:31 a.m
By: Sonja Thomaser
Comments
Press
Split
Dependence on Russian gas is at an all-time high in Austria.
The green energy minister now wants to counteract this with legal obligations.
Vienna – There are several sanctions against Russia due to the war of aggression in Ukraine.
In sports, in politics, even in the entertainment industry.
But Russian gas continues to flow to Europe.
Especially to Austria: in December 2023, gas from Russia accounted for 98 percent of imports.
This is a high since the start of the war of aggression against Ukraine, Austria's Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) announced on Monday (February 12).
A gas and oil processing reactor manufactured for Gazprom.
© IMAGO/Pavel Lisitsyn
Austria's politicians maintain good contacts with Putin's Kremlin
There are numerous close connections between Vienna and Moscow on both an economic and political level
.
There was even a temporary friendship treaty between the right-wing populist FPÖ and the Kremlin party “United Russia”.
In addition, chancellors from both the social democratic SPÖ and the conservatives from the ÖVP have good connections to the Kremlin, the
Spiegel
recently wrote .
The British
Economist
therefore put Austria on a list of “Putin’s useful idiots” in 2023.
Green Energy Minister wants law against Russian natural gas dominance in Austria
Austria's Energy Minister Gewessler now wants to combat the country's still very high dependence on Russian gas through government intervention.
She wants to oblige gas suppliers by law to gradually demonstrate an increasing proportion of non-Russian natural gas, said Gewessler.
“We are currently seeing a clear market failure.
There is enough non-Russian natural gas – but the energy companies don’t buy it.”
My news
More natural disasters: How Germany is preparing for climate change read
2 hours ago
Now Aiwanger is looking for the wind farm conversation: wind turbines are built “whether citizens want it or not” read
Tanks in urban warfare: Putin is threatened with a new catastrophe like in Groznylesen
Russia and SpaceX reject Starlink allegations – Ukrainian secret service remains steadfast
Putin's troops in trouble: Swedish tank mixes up the Ukrainian front
Ukraine threatens serious loss of Avdiivka: Kiev takes risks
Austria's Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens).
© IMAGO/Harald Dostal
According to derstandard.at,
the Green politician made
it clear: “If the gas suppliers do not act on their own initiative in the liberalized gas market, then legal obligations are needed.” However, a two-thirds majority in parliament is required for the corresponding change in the law, according to the Minister continued.
Austria wants to consider exiting the gag agreement with Russia
The last major step towards dependence was the extension of the long-term supply contracts for Russian natural gas between the gas company Gazprom and the partially state-owned energy company OMV in 2018, it said.
It is now important to examine and implement all legal options for exiting this “gag agreement”, which runs until 2040, said Gewessler.
A feature of the contract is a fixed purchase obligation (take-or-pay) in OMV's supply contracts.
So you have to pay even if no Russian gas is purchased.
“We have to prepare for the exit from OMV’s contracts,” said Gewessler.
On behalf of the Ministry of Energy, the Economic Research Institute (Wifo) is now to prepare a study by summer on the economic effects of terminating the contract and the dangers of continued dependence on Russian gas.
According to the Energy Minister, Austria's gas consumption is going in the right direction
Gewessler also advocated for a new security strategy in which an independent energy supply should be given a correspondingly high priority.
The aim remains, as decided by the EU, to get by without Russian gas in a few years.
Overall, gas consumption is going in the right direction.
Gas consumption in Austria fell by a quarter from 100.3 terawatt hours in 2021 to 75.6 terawatt hours in 2023.
(so with dpa)