Austria's biggest energy supplier is trying to recover damages awarded during arbitration from Gazprom by essentially stopping some payment for gas supplied via Ukraine.

Russia’s state-owned natural gas company Gazprom stopped supplies to Austria early Saturday, according to the Vienna-based utility OMV, after OMV said it would stop payments for the gas following an arbitration award.

The Russian energy company Gazprom abruptly halted deliveries of natural gas to Austria on Saturday following a legal dispute over supply interruptions. The stoppage was confirmed to dpa by Austrian energy company OMV spokeswoman Sylvia Shin.