Italy hopes to resolve Russian gas supply halt

Italian energy company Eni suggested on Monday that Russian gas supplies to the country could be restored this week. The stoppage was caused by regulatory issues in Austria and not by geopolitics, it said.

“The situation could be settled before the end of this week,” Eni’s chief executive Claudio Descalzi stated, noting that the drop in flows from Russia's Gazprom via the Tarvisio entry point in northern Italy, which was identified on Saturday, is related to commercial reasons.

“It is due to the fact that Gazprom would have to pay a monetary guarantee for the transport of gas from Austria to Italy that was not there before,” Descalzi said, adding that the guarantee amounts to €20 million ($19.6 million).

According to the CEO, Eni was checking whether the Italian group could replace Gazprom or the Austrian operator for the physical transfer of Russian fuel that was already in Austria.

On Saturday, Gazprom informed Eni that it wouldn’t be able to supply gas to the country due to the “impossibility of transporting it” through Austria. The company explained on its Telegram channel that the gas flow had been suspended as a result of the refusal of the Austrian operator to confirm “transit nominations” due to regulatory changes that were introduced in Austria at the end of September.

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