On June 5, 2018, the chairman of Gazprom’s management committee Alexey Miller and the chairman of OMV’s executive board Rainer Seele signed an agreement to extend until 2040 the existing contract between Gazprom Export and OMV Gas Marketing & Trading GmbH for Russian gas supplies to Austria. The original contract was valid until 2028.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Austria’s Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz attended the signing as part of celebrations marking 50 years of supplies of Russian gas to Austria.

“The Agreement signed today is yet another testament to the growing need for gas imports both in Austria and in Europe in general – the need that Gazprom is ready to satisfy. By implementing the construction project for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, we will make gas deliveries even more reliable for the benefit of consumers,” Alexey Miller said.

“By 2030, the European Union will have to import more than 80 percent of the natural gas it needs. By extending this gas supply contract, we will provide Austria and other European countries with natural gas to meet the increase in demand. Moreover, it will allow us to reduce carbon dioxide emissions,” said Rainer Seele.

Gazprom’s visit to Vienna also included working meetings of Alexey Miller with Elisabeth Koestinger, Austria’s Minister for Sustainability and Tourism, and Margarete Schramboeck, Minister for Digital and Economic Affairs.

Gas cooperation became the overarching theme of the meetings, as the parties discussed the importance of natural gas – the cleanest fossil fuel – in Austria’s energy mix. Gas accounts for about 23 percent of the European nation’s energy supply.

The meetings’ participants noted that Gazprom established itself as a reliable gas exporter attuned to the needs of the Austrian market and always ready to meet the rapidly growing consumer demand for natural gas.

Special emphasis was placed on the Nord Stream 2 project. The parties emphasized that efforts to build new gas transmission capacities, such as a new gas pipeline stretching across the Baltic Sea, took on great significance amid the decline in indigenous production in Europe.

OMV is Gazprom’s main partner in Austria. The companies cooperate in gas production, transportation, and supplies.

June 1, 2018, marked the 50th anniversary of Russia’s gas supplies to the Republic of Austria. On June 1, 1968, the Soviet company Soyuznefteexport and Osterreichische Mineralolverwaltung (OMV) signed a gas supply agreement. The Republic of Austria became the first country in Western Europe to sign a gas contract with the Soviet Union.

In 2017, Gazprom set an absolute record for gas exports to Austria at 9.1 billion cubic meters, a figure reflecting an increase of 50.3 percent (three billion cubic meters) from 2016 (6.1 billion cubic meters) and 33.7 percent (2.3 billion cubic meters) from 2005, when the previous record had been reached (6.8 billion cubic meters), with over 218 billion cubic meters delivered to the country since 1968.

Nord Stream 2 is a project for the construction of a gas pipeline with the annual capacity of 55 billion cubic meters from Russia to Germany across the Baltic Sea.