The failed attempt to freeze Europe in order to achieve concessions on Ukraine has resulted in Gazprom not only in record losses in history, but also in lawsuits for tens of billions of dollars.

At least 19 companies from 11 European countries have filed lawsuits against the Russian gas monopoly for breach of gas contracts, and their total amount has reached 18.6 billion euros, or $20.6 billion, Reuters calculated.

The largest of them - for 13 billion euros - was filed by the German concern Uniper, formerly Gazprom's main client in Germany and a co-investor in the Nord Stream 2 project. The company, which purchased 20 billion cubic meters of gas per year from Russia, demanded compensation for multi-billion dollar losses from the cessation of Russian supplies. In June 2024, the Stockholm Arbitration Court satisfied its claim in full.

Another German gas importer, RWE, which received 1 billion cubic meters per year, is demanding about $1 billion from Gazprom. French Engie filed a lawsuit in arbitration, demanding more than 300 million euros from Gazprom. In Austria, which continues to buy Russian gas, providing it with about 90% of its consumption, the largest energy concern OMV filed a lawsuit against Gazprom: its amount is 575.3 million euros, Reuters writes.

In Finland, where Russian gas occupied 90% of the market before the war, the Gasum concern filed a lawsuit against Gazprom, and in Italy, the energy giant Eni, which refused to comply with Vladimir Putin's decree on payment for supplies "in rubles."

In Poland, Europol Gaz, the company that managed the Polish section of the Yamal-Europe pipeline, which pumped gas from Western Siberia to consumers in Germany, filed a lawsuit against Gazprom for 1.5 billion euros. In the Czech Republic, Net4gas and Innogy Energie have filed claims against Gazprom for undelivered gas: the former is demanding 113 million euros, the latter - 78 million. In Switzerland, gas traders DXT Commodities and Axpo Solutions have filed claims: their total amount is almost 1 billion euros.

In the Netherlands, the gas transportation operator Gasunie Transport Services is demanding 275 million euros from Gazprom. Another claim for non-use of reserved gas capacities was filed by BBL Company V.O.F. In Slovakia, ZSE Energia and Vychodoslovenska energetika have decided to sue Gazprom, and in Bulgaria, the national gas operator Bulgargaz has decided to sue. The latter is demanding 400 million euros for contract termination.

The total amount of claims against Gazprom exceeded its net revenue from gas sales to all external markets combined: $10 billion per year from supplies to Europe and Turkey, $7 billion from supplies to China, and $2 billion from exports to the CIS and Central Asia, according to BCS estimates.

Multi-billion dollar claims create risks of arrest of payments to Gazprom in Europe, warns Alfa Bank analyst Nikita Blokhin: companies demanding compensation may try to intercept the money that the remaining buyers of Russian gas transfer to the company. This could happen, in particular, in Austria, where the national gas operator OMV reported attempts to "intercept" payments to Gazprom in late May.

The current situation promises the Russian company a further curtailment of its activities in Europe, warns Blokhin. Last year, Gazprom pumped only 28 billion cubic meters of gas to the European market - the minimum volume since the late 1970s. Its total exports amounted to only 69 billion cubic meters, the lowest since 1985. For the first time since the late 1990s, Gazprom ended the year with a net loss under international financial reporting standards (IFRS), and its size — 629 billion rubles — was a record in the company’s history.