Russian gas flow to Austria plunges 90 percent

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Russian gas flows to Austria dropped 90 percent on Tuesday amid a dispute between Moscow and Ukraine, oil and gas group OMV said, but added it was using its natural gas reserves to cover the shortfall.

Russia cut off supplies to Ukraine on January 1 over debts, pledging supplies to western Europe would be safeguarded, but some southern and eastern European countries have seen flows fall or stop.

OMV said it had been informed by its Russian partners that gas supplies would fall 30-40 percent on Tuesday.

"However there were further reductions in supply in the early morning hours. At the moment only around 10 percent of Russian gas is being delivered to Baumgarten" a border transit point, OMV said in a statement.

It said it was in contact with Gazprom about the situation but meanwhile was using its 1.7 billion cubic metres of natural gas reserves to supply its customers.

(Reporting by Michael Shields; editing by Sue Thomas)