Gazprom will pay Ukraine 2.56 billion dollars

Such a decision was eventually adopted by the International Arbitration Court in Stockholm.
01.03.2018
RIA Novosti
Origin source
The arbitration in Stockholm satisfied the demands of Naftogaz for Gazprom on a $ 4.673 billion gas transit lawsuit, according to two court proceedings, the Russian company must pay $ 2.56 billion to the Ukrainian company, Gazprom said.

"Of the claims claimed by Naftogaz in the amount of $ 17 billion, the arbitrators satisfied the claims for $ 4.673 billion in connection with the supply of gas for its transit to European consumers to a lesser extent than was provided for by the contract." Taking into account the previously awarded in favor of Gazprom, the amounts under the contract for the supply of arbitrators offset offset claims, following which Gazprom is obliged to pay Naftogaz 2.56 billion dollars, "the report said.

Earlier on Wednesday, Naftogaz announced the final arbitration award in Stockholm with similar amounts of compensation.

In Gazprom, they disagreed with the arbitration decision, pointing out that as a result of such a verdict, there was an imbalance in relations with Naftogaz for the supply and transit of gas. The company promised to protect its rights by all legal means.

Gazprom also noted that the Stockholm Arbitration rejected Naftogaz's demands for an increase in the tariff for gas transit from Russia.

History of the dispute

The Stockholm arbitration in December passed a verdict on the dispute between Gazprom and Naftogaz regarding a contract for the supply of Russian gas to Ukraine. The court ordered Naftogaz to pay Gazprom about $ 2 billion for gas already supplied, and also reduced the annual contract volume of purchases to 5 billion cubic meters of gas, but left the "take or pay" condition for 80% of this amount, that is, for 4 billion cubic meters.

Gazprom and Naftogaz Ukrainy in June 2014 filed counterclaims at the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce.

In October 2014, Naftogaz also initiated proceedings to revise the contract for gas transit at the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce and provided detailed claims in April 2015. "Naftogaz" believed that its rights and obligations for transit should be transferred to "Ukrtransgaz" as a GTS operator. In addition, the methodology for calculating the transit tariff should have been changed in accordance with European standards.

"Naftogaz" recouped in transit
Gazprom has to pay $ 4.6 billion to the Ukrainian company on the decision of the Stockholm Arbitration Court
Kommersant, March 1, 2013

The Stockholm arbitration partially satisfied the demands of Naftogaz in the context of the dispute with Gazprom under the contract for transit. According to the decision of arbitration, which leads Naftogaz, Gazprom will have to pay the Ukrainian company $ 4.6 billion for insufficient transit volumes in 2009-2017. Initially, Naftogaz demanded $ 16 billion. At the same time, Naftohaz's refusal to review the payment for transit arbitration was rejected. Gazprom has already stated that it considers the decision to be unfair and will challenge it.

"Naftogaz of Ukraine" said that the Stockholm arbitration took his side in the decision on a four-year dispute with Gazprom under the contract for gas transit from 2009. According to Naftogaz, Gazprom will have to pay $ 4.6 billion in compensation for insufficient volumes of gas transit in the previous period. Thus, the net payment of Gazprom to Naftogaz, given the December decision of arbitration in the dispute over the gas supply contract, could reach $ 2.6 billion.

"Naftogaz" in the course of the suit filed in October 2014, demanded to change a number of parameters of the transit contract, bringing them in line with the norms of the Third Energy Package of the EU and Ukrainian antimonopoly legislation. In particular, the Ukrainian company wants to change the rules for calculating transit payments - now the payment is determined by the formula and depends primarily on the price of Russian gas supplies to Ukraine.

However, the main requirement of Naftogaz to Gazprom is to compensate for the lower loading of the Ukrainian gas transportation system compared to the level of 110 billion cubic meters, which, according to the Ukrainian company, is designated in the contract in accordance with the principle of ship-or-pay (" pay "). As part of this requirement, Naftogaz wants to collect about $ 16 billion from Gazprom. It should be noted that although the contract does state that Gazprom transfers Naftogaz for transit with a volume of at least 110 billion cubic meters per year, the document does not stipulate There are no penalties in case the volume of transit is less.

Naftogaz also notes that the arbitration court rejected Gazprom's claims for $ 7 million against the volumes of gas allegedly uncoordinated by the Ukrainian company from the transit flow. This was the only financial requirement that Gazprom made in the framework of this dispute. The message "Naftogaz" indicates that the total volume of the arbitration award is 800 pages.

At the same time, Naftogaz acknowledged that the arbitration court rejected the demands of the Ukrainian company to change the way the transit payment was calculated. In addition, the arbitration court rejected Naftohaz's requirements for bringing the transit contract in line with the provisions of the Third Energy Package and the Ukrainian antimonopoly legislation. Apparently, this means that the Ukrainian company will not be able to obtain the shipper codes for organizing a virtual gas reversal from Europe. It also strengthens Gazprom's position in litigation with the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, which fined the company $ 3.5 billion for alleged violations in the gas transit market in the country.

"Now we need to review the transit contract, taking into account the arbitration award and the requirements of European and Ukrainian legislation. "Naftogaz" intends in the near future to invite Gazprom to begin negotiations on this issue. "Naftogaz" expects that after the arbitration decision, the gas market reform in Ukraine will accelerate, "the words of its head Andrei Kobolev are cited in the company's message.

Gazprom admitted that now, according to the arbitration, Naftogaz should pay $ 2.56 bn, taking into account the decision on the gas supply contract (according to which, Naftogaz must pay Gazprom $ 2 bn). Gazprom also noted that the arbitration court rejected Naftogaz's requests for a revision of transit fees and "found that the provisions of neither European nor Ukrainian antitrust laws are applicable to the contract."

Regarding the central point of this dispute - fees for insufficient transit volumes - Gazprom expressed disagreement with the arbitration award. "Previously, the same arbitrators agreed with Naftogaz's arguments about the sharp deterioration in the state of the Ukrainian economy, which led to a decrease in demand for gas and non-compliance with Naftogaz's gas withdrawal commitments. However, with regard to Gazprom, which referred to a decrease in purchases by European customers of the company as the main reason for the reduction of transit through Ukraine, this argument was not taken into account, "Gazprom said in a statement.

The company is going to challenge this decision. "Taking into account the results of the two proceedings, in the relations between Gazprom and Naftogaz for supplies and transit, there was a significant imbalance that violates the basic principles of Swedish law, which governs the contract. Gazprom will defend its rights in all ways available to it in accordance with applicable law, "the report says. Gazprom can challenge the arbitration award in the Swedish state court, as it has already done with a preliminary decision on the gas purchase contract made in late May 2017. However, the statistics of challenging arbitral awards are not in favor of Gazprom - they are canceled or revised only in case of a violation of the procedure, or if Gazprom can prove that the arbitrators have gone beyond their powers.

According to the interlocutors of Kommersant, the key aspect that could affect the opinion of arbitrators regarding the required volumes of transit may be the launch of the Nord Stream gas pipeline in late 2011, that is, after the conclusion of the contract with Ukraine. In fact, the gas that was supplied through this gas pipeline was "removed" from the Ukrainian transit route. The volume of supplies through the "Nord Stream" was 23.8 billion cubic meters, 35.5 billion cubic meters, 39.1 billion cubic meters, 43.8 billion cubic meters and 51 billion cubic meters in 2013-2017, respectively. "In other words, the demand for gas in the European market was sufficient to fully load the Ukrainian route, but Gazprom preferred a different route for delivery," one of Kommersant sources explains the possible logic of the arbitrators.

Officials

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