Austrian chancellor threatens to take Salzburg storage facility from Gazprom

Austria will take the gas storage facility in Salzburg from Gazprom if the company does not fill it up, said Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer.

“We will make it so that, for example, if the Russian Gazprom does not fill up our largest storage facility, then we will take it from them for other suppliers,” he said.

Vienna accepted Russia’s terms on the new gas payment scheme on 27 April.

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Earlier, the Minister of Energy of the country, Leonore Gewessler, confirmed that gas was and is being supplied to Austria without interruption. She added that without fuel supplies from Russia this year it will not be possible to fill storage facilities before winter, but Vienna is keen to diversify sources.

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From April 1, Russia began to accept payments for gas from unfriendly countries under a new scheme to get away from the dollar and the euro in these calculations. According to the presidential decree, Gazprombank must open special currency and ruble accounts. The buyer transfers the required amount to the first account in the currency specified in the contract, the bank sells it on the Moscow Exchange and credits rubles to the second account. It is from it that payments are made to Gazprom for the supplied raw materials.