Austria’s energy giant OMV says it has suspended all imports of Russian oil ahead of the possible EU embargo on them.
“The purchase of oil from Russia was always very low … we replaced it with other oil from the market,” an OMV spokesman said, as quoted by newspaper Kronen Zeitung.
In early March, the corporation said it would reconsider its participation in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project. OMV has also halted investments in Russia.
Unlike Germany, Austria is expected to take the potential EU embargo on Russian oil supplies in its stride. According to data from Statistics Austria and the Association of the Mineral Oil Industry, Russian oil accounted for only 7.8%, or 596,000 tons, of the country’s imports in 2021.
However, Austria is still heavily reliant on Russian natural gas. Since the country is landlocked, imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are impractical.