Russia’s Gazprom stops flow of natural gas to Austria, OMV utility says

VIENNA (AP) — Austrian utility OMV says supplies from Russia’s state-owned natural gas company Gazprom stopped early Saturday after the company said it would stop payments for the gas following an arbitration award. The official cutoff of supplies came a day after Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer held a hastily called news conference to emphasize his country has a secure supply of alternative fuel for this winter. OMV said it would stop paying for Gazprom gas to its Austrian arm to offset a 230 million-euro ($242 million) arbitration award it won over an earlier cutoff of gas to its German subsidiary.