Russia is planning to resume gas deliveries to Italy following its suspending due to a transport issues in Austria, Russian energy giant Gazprom said in a statement Wednesday.
While adding that a “solution” was found with Italian buyers after regulatory changes in Austria, Gazprom said that, “Transportation of Russian gas via the territory of Austria is resuming.”
Most Russian gas delivered to Italy passes through Ukraine through the Trans Austria Gas Pipeline (TAG), to Tarvisio in the northern region of Italy on the border with Austria.
Italian energy company Eni said Wednesday that “gas supplies from Gazprom resumed today” and welcomed the “resolution by Eni and the parties concerned of the constraints resulting from the new regulations introduced by” Austria.
On Saturday, Gazprom suspended gas deliveries to Italy, blaming a transport problem in Austria.
“The actual reason is related to the regulatory changes that took place in Austria at the end of September,” Gazprom said at the time.
In Austria, regulatory authority E-Control said the recent rules, which entered into force on Saturday, had been “familiar to all market actors for months.”
It asserted that it expected “all to conform & take the required measures to complete their obligations.”
Moreover, the problems were connected to “contractual details” linked to the transit of gas towards Italy, E-Control said on Twitter.
On Monday, Eni said it was ready to pay a 20-million-euro guarantee to restart deliveries of Russian gas through Austria.
Following Wednesday’s announcement, several reports asked Eni if such a payment had been made, but did not receive an answer.
Before the conflict in Ukraine, Italy imported 95 per cent of the gas it consumes — about 45% of which came from Russia.