Due to Gazprom’s return to providing the full amount of gas that was contracted, as well as a decline in deliveries from Germany and Italy, Russian gas imports into Austria are approaching market shares last seen in the years prior to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Russia-Ukraine War effect
Before the outbreak of the conflict, Austria was one of the few nations that entirely dependent on Russian gas, with 80% of its domestic gas usage coming from Moscow. In fact, starting in the 1960s, Vienna made gas arrangements with the Soviet Union in return for Austria’s ongoing neutrality and non-alignment.
Reinhard Florey, CFO at Austrian energy giant OMV, said: “We are temporarily back at 100% gas supplies from Gazprom at the moment, but have also experienced numbers at 30% and below in the past.”
Read more: Bulgaria stands against EU’s attack on Russian nuclear energy
On 7th January, Austrians were urged to continue saving energy by Energy Minister, Leonore Gewessler. She remarked that “we are not out of the woods yet” and added that conserving gas would guarantee that the winter’s supply of food will be adequate.
On 9th January, Gas storage facilities in Austria were 74.87% full.
What changed Nehammer’s policy?
Earlier in July, TFI Global explained that with the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, Austria officially ended its neutrality and sided completely with the Western allies, abandoning its earlier policy of neutrality in armed conflicts.
As a result, Austrian Chancellor Nehammer paid a hefty price. Nehammer committed political suicide with this decision. The data supported this. Similar to other countries, Austria’s oil and gas company, OMV, had its gas supply shut off by Gazprom. The country’s chronic gas issue got worse as a result.
This culminated in nationwide support for Karl Nehammer significantly plummeting.
Nehammer’s approval rating was only 32%, according to the morning consult, around 61% of people expressed disillusionment with his governance. As a matter of fact, only 22% of people approved of his party, the OVP.
Similarly on 17th September, the Austrian people, various opposition parties and trade unions took to the streets to agitate against their government’s blunder move to stand with Ukraine and the West. Around 30,000 people protested in various cities of Austria including Eisenstadt, Bruck an der Mur, Salzburg etc.
In fact, 20,000 people marched in capital, Vienna, alone. The public called on Nehammer’s regime to take constructive steps against skyrocketing prices of energy, food and other essential commodities.
Therefore, just like any other cowardly and incompetent European leader, who takes decisions without taking into account their catastrophic consequences, Karl Nehammer decided to reverse his policy. It is an irony that the very leader i.e. Vladimir Putin, who is despised by the entire Western world, always comes to the rescue of leaders like Nehammer to avert the sinking of their political boat.
Austria has realized that as long as it has a strong diplomatic and economic partnership with Russia, its interests will not be trampled on.
Read more: NATO is pushing another Russian neighbour against it
