Spot liquidity on Austrian market grows despite loss of Russian gas transit via Ukraine – CEGH CEO

• EEX CEGH spot liquidity boosted by diverse supply routes, regulatory framework
• Romania, Ukraine offer potential for growth although regulatory, taxation unpredictability hamper development
• Green gas platform likely to expand as it draws Europe-wide interest

LONDON (ICIS)–Trading liquidity on Austrian spot contracts is set to grow despite the loss of Russian gas transiting Ukraine, as the country’s gas market is best equipped to serve regional needs, Gottfried Steiner, CEO of Central European Gas Hub AG (CEGH) told ICIS in an interview.

Traded spot volumes on the jointly operated EEX-CEGH spot platform for Austria have risen 3% in the year to date compared to the same period last year, exceeding even levels seen in 2020 and 2021.

“Who would have thought that without Russian gas we would have higher spot liquidity than we had last year?” Steiner said, noting that the Austrian market adapted immediately to the new reality after the transit of Russian gas via Ukraine stopped on 1 January 2025 on two accounts

Firstly, traders trusted the Austrian market, he said, adding: “Liquidity breeds liquidity … Traders know where there is liquidity, where the counterparties are and where they are safe trading.”

Secondly, he said Austria is well equipped from an infrastructure point of view to guarantee access to various sources of supply as well as storage.

TRANSMISSION NETWORK

Steiner noted that as soon as Russian gas transit via Ukraine expired at the start of the year, flows switched direction, with companies importing more gas from Germany and Italy than from Russia last year.

Even Slovakia, which lost its role as a transit route after Russian gas flows stopped via Ukraine, exported gas to Austria between mid-January and mid-March, he added.

“Slovakia, one of the most landlocked countries in Europe became not just one of the cheapest but also a net exporter, which is unbelievable,” Steiner said, adding such volumes may have come either from storage or been imported at a discount from the Balkans via Hungary.

Italy is also a significant driver of trading liquidity on CEGH as that country’s demand is more volatile, requiring imports from Austria to balance.

Steiner sees scope for further growth, particularly as Ukraine is set to ramp up imports this storage season.

Ukraine is expected to buy between 4-5 billion cubic meters of gas in summer 2025, with imports likely to come primarily via Hungary, which in turn has been importing some of its volumes from Austria.

FUTURES TRADING

Steiner said CEGH also remains the most important regional futures market thanks to a stable regulatory framework.

Nevertheless, he said that unlike the Austrian market, which saw growth after the loss of the Russian transit, volumes on the Czech market jointly operated by EEX and CEGH fell year on the year in the first quarter of 2025.

“We also operate the Czech market and here the futures market collapsed by 80-90% [year on year] as a result of flow changes and gas market changes.”

The decrease follows the loss of Russian flows but also, critically, the fact that with the rise in German imports, Czech traders were no longer trading on their local market but on the neighbouring German THE hub.

This was not the case in Austria where the regulatory framework and the diverse infrastructure was more established, allowing the market to establish itself as a reference for the region.

Steiner says the company is following closely potential growth in Romania and Ukraine, two countries with relatively high demand, a diverse transmission network and indigenous production.

Although Romania is well equipped to provide potential for expansion, development is blocked by regulatory, political and taxation obstacles which make it difficult to attract and build liquidity, he said.

GREEN GAS

Steiner said that in the longer-term CEGH will seek to grow its CEGH GreenGas Platform, Europe’s first of its kind.

Since the end of January a total of 120GWh of green hydrogen and biomethane have traded on the platform, with the former being traded as a bundle of certificates of origin and actual hydrogen trailers.

He said the platform includes 88 members from 20 countries.

As of March 2025, there were 365 members on CEGH, compared to 330 in March 2024.