The flow of gas from Russia to Italy has been interrupted after an explosion at a distribution plant in Austria, the Gas Connect Austria company said Tuesday. "The system has been turned off and it is out of order," read a statement on the Gas Connect website. "The transit through Austria towards south and south-east is compromised until further notice". Sector experts, Gas Connect Austria and Austrian Gas Grid Management said the interruption should not cause immediate problems for Italy thanks to energy stocks.
Nevertheless, Industry Minister Carlo Calenda said that the government is set to declare a state of emergency.
"Today there was an accident at an gas-intersection point in Austria, due to which we have a serious supply problem, in particular on the Austrian section from Russia," Calenda said.
"If we had the TAP, we would not have to declare a state of emergency today for this lack of supply," he added, referring to the pipeline from Azerbaijan to Italy.
"It is necessary to diversity gas supplies".
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