Vienna, 24 Mar The Austrian Federation of Industries (IV) warned on Thursday that the Alpine Republic cannot for the moment do without Russian gas supplies in the short term, since it has no way to replace them. “In the short term, there is no alternative to gas from Russia, this is still the uncomfortable truth,” said IV in a statement published on its website a few hours before the summit of leaders of the European Union (EU) that will study in Brussels the possibility of reducing Moscow's community energy dependence. By importing from Russia 80% of the gas it consumes - a percentage that doubles the EU average (40%) -, Austria is one of the twenty-seven most dependent on the Eurasian giant. “Those who demand an abrupt and unforeseen end to oil and gas supplies from Russia must first explain where and how countries like Austria will obtain the necessary energy sources in the short term,” says Georg Knill, president of the powerful federation. In Austria, a cut in Russian gas imports “would affect everyone from energy-intensive industry to SMEs; production and supply chains would be massively threatened,” he adds. Therefore, “it would have catastrophic effects on our daily lives, on our energy supply and on our economy in general. If we did, we would destroy our industry and our jobs,” he insists. Previously, the Austrian paper industry had already warned that a Russian gas outage would be “the worst case scenario” for the sector, since in addition to paper, it would affect hygiene products such as diapers and toilet paper, paper-packed food and medicines, as well as books, newspapers and magazines. On the other hand, the OMV Group, the main Austrian importer of Russian gas and the largest oil and gas consortium in central and southeastern Europe, intends to continue paying Russia's bills in euros, ignoring the Kremlin's new demand for ruble transfers. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced yesterday that his country will refuse payment in foreign currency, including the dollar and the euro, and that he will charge energy supplies to “unfriendly” countries, including those of the European Union (EU), solely in rubles. “Of course” OMV will continue to pay Russia for its gas deliveries in euros and not in rubles, because “we have no other contractual basis,” OMV president Alfred Stern declared in an interview on Puls24 television last night. CHIEF wr/ah