Austria is confident that stopping gas transit through Ukraine will not affect it in any way

Despite the completion of gas transit through Ukraine, the gas supply to Austria is still guaranteed. This was announced today, January 1, by the Austrian Ministry of Energy.

As the agency noted, this step was announced in advance, the gas level in the republic's storage facilities on December 30 was 78.53%.

"In order to maintain uninterrupted and unlimited gas supplies at any time, market participants turned to alternative gas sources, for example, through entry points from Germany or Italy, as well as from Austrian storage facilities. This made it possible to compensate for supply constraints. Deliveries to Austria are still guaranteed," the release says.

The agreement between Gazprom and Naftogaz of Ukraine on the transportation of natural gas through Ukrainian territory was concluded on December 30, 2019 and expired five years later — on the last day of 2024. Deliveries under this document stopped at 8:00 Moscow time on January 1.

Moldova and four EU countries received Russian gas through it: Slovakia, Austria, Italy and the Czech Republic. Now the Balkan Stream, which receives gas from the Turkish Stream, will remain the only source of Russian pipeline gas for Europeans without transit. Approximately 14-15 billion cubic meters are supplied annually to Romania, Greece, North Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Hungary.

Part of the Russian gas flowing through Ukraine can be reoriented to the Turkish route. We are talking about a volume of up to 1-2 billion cubic meters per year, so Slovakia and Austria will be able to get fuel. However, stopping transit threatens to increase gas quotations and local imbalances in the gas market in Europe.