Moscow Times: Gazprom Partner Urges Restraint
Europe should avoid more sanctions against Russia over its role in Ukraine and continue to pursue dialogue with Moscow, the chief executive of OMV, the longest-standing Western trade partner of Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, said.
The Austrian energy group signed its first long-term supply contract with the Soviet Union in 1968 and is a major importer of Russian gas.
"None of us can estimate what it would mean if no gas came from Russia to Europe, and if we cannot calculate the consequences we should not threaten it," Gerhard Roiss told Austrian ORF radio in an interview aired on Saturday.
The European Union is dependent on Russia for about a third of its oil and gas, and about 40 percent of the gas is shipped through Ukraine.