Unlike Hungary, the government does not want to impose any requirements on the judiciary to protect gas imports.

Based on international court rulings, the government does not want to get involved if an attempted payment from OMV to Gazprom in Austria affects the country’s gas supply. A spokesman said there were no instructions from the Austrian justice ministry to the responsible courts.

On May 21, 2024, OMV said in an “urgent market message” that it was aware of the potentially serious foreign court ruling. German Uniber has confirmed that pending claims against Gazprom can be resolved through compulsory enforcement in other EU countries. Theoretically, OMV should pay Uniper from the gas supply contract with Gazprom. In the event of such an enforcement, Gazprom could stop gas supplies, which would adversely affect the Austrian gas market.

Austria’s neighbor Hungary is in a similar situation, but says it has found a solution: Prime Minister Viktor Orban decreed on May 30 that tariffs on natural gas supplies should not be used, given the emergency now caused by the war in neighboring Ukraine. To meet the demands of the lender. He reasoned that this would be “contrary to Hungarian public order”. (besides)