The Russian gas giant Gazprom said at the end of the week that it stops sending gas to Italy after it did not receive permission to flow gas through pipelines passing through Austrian territory.
It was not immediately clear whether the break was a temporary bureaucratic glitch or whether Italy had joined the club of countries in the European Union that were blocked from accessing Russian gas.
● Following Russia’s threats to stop selling oil: the energy crisis in Europe is worsening
● “Unprecedented” attack: Another leak was revealed in the Nord Stream pipeline
Austrian authorities said Gazprom had not signed off on changes to supply contracts required by regulatory changes that are made every year, and that Gazprom had been aware of for months. Gazprom, the Austrian government and Italian energy company Eni said they were working on a solution.
Moscow and the European Union are in an economic war following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. EU countries have imposed sweeping trade and financial sanctions on Russia while sending arms, money and other aid to Ukraine. Russia has cut off most gas deliveries to the European Union in an attempt to weaken Europe’s political commitment to support Kiev.
A new coalition in Italy
The elections in Italy a week ago brought victory to a new coalition that promised to continue sanctions against Russia and support Ukraine, despite concerns among some Italian parties about the economic consequences of the conflict with Moscow.
For Italy, the loss of the remaining gas shipments from Russia will no longer be a significant blow. Russian gas accounts for only a few percent of Italy’s gas supply, after Eni and the government in Rome took steps to ensure increased gas imports from other sources, including Algeria, Norway, Egypt, Qatar and Azerbaijan.
The flow of gas to Italy is greater than the demand of households and businesses in Italy, which helped the country fill the gas reserves to 90% for the winter and export excess gas to other European countries. However, the high gas price as part of a pan-European effort to fill reservoirs and replace Russian gas is a heavy economic burden on Italy and other EU countries.
The region is on the brink of recession
Analysts said it was not yet clear whether the gas would be able to reach Italy via a different route through Switzerland. Although the gas does not represent a major loss for the Italian market, a complete cessation of gas flows to Europe could further complicate efforts by the European Union to get through the winter without setting fuel quotas, they said.
With the entire region teetering on the brink of recession, European Union energy ministers agreed Friday on a plan to reduce energy demand and cut profits for gas and oil companies to help lower bills for private and industrial consumers. However, EU countries have not been able to reach an agreement on an overall price ceiling for gas, an ambition of Italy and other EU countries.