Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said that his country could refuse Russian gas only after a few years, TASS reports.
Nehammer said his country is now 80 percent dependent on Russian gas supplies for industries and households. The head of Austria said that everything possible is being done to achieve independence from the supply of Russian raw materials, but this is impossible in the near future.
In response to criticism of the Austrian government’s purchase of Russian gas, Nehammer said the sanctions should hurt Russia, not his country.
On April 14, Austrian Chancellor Nehammer said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had promised him stability in gas supplies.
Earlier, the European Commission warned EU member states that Putin’s decree to pay for gas in rubles violates EU sanctions. According to Brussels, the decree of the Russian leader creates “new legal circumstances” under which Russia will control transactions and be able to regulate the exchange rate in its favor. According to the EC, this mechanism will violate the “restrictive measures” of the EU in relation to the Central Bank.
