Georg Knill, president of the Federation of Austrian Industry Industrie Vereinigung, said that the increase in cost of natural gas tenfold drove Austrian companies into a crisis, which can be overcome only with large-scale help from the state. He said this in a conversation with the Kronenzeitung.

“The situation is more than dramatic. Many businesses have gone to extremes,” Knill said.

The Kronenzeitung piece notes that the Austrian Cabinet had previously promised to increase support for producers, but so far this has not happened. The president of the Industrie Vereinigung, stressed that if there is no support, Austria will face plant closures and unemployment.

Increasing gas prices – what happens to other countries?

On September 4, it became known that the Finnish authorities in the framework of the aid program, prepared loans and guarantees for up to €10 billion for energy companies.

Before that, on the same day, it was reported that the government of Sweden intends to provide the national energy companies 250 billion SEK ($23.18 billion) for liquidity guarantees to maintain financial stability against increasing gas prices.

On September 3, the average settlement price of gas in Europe in August jumped 35%, to $2,450 per thousand cubic meters, and also for the first time reached a record $3,500 amid a complete stop of Nord Stream.

Earlier we reported that wind power in Europe has fallen to a low.