Stockholm arbitration may complete its examination of lawsuits in the gas dispute between Ukraine and Russia in the summer or fall of 2015,Ukrainian Justice Minister Pavlo Petrenko said.
“I am confident that in connection with our very strong legal position, as in the preceding lawsuit, where we posed the issue of fair pricing, and the other lawsuit concerning the fair price of gas transit, we will await the court’s ruling and it will be fair and legal,” Petrenko said at a news conference in Kyiv on Wednesday, Oct. 15.
Asked whether the ruling might be expected in the summer or fall of 2015, Petrenko said: “The dates are those you named. But everything will depend on the strategy that our opponents select, whether they will try to drag out the process.”
Naftogaz Ukrainy filed suit in Stockholm’s SCC arbitration on June 16 demanding a fair and market-based price for the gas it buys from Russian Gazprom. The suit also seeks to recover overpayment for gas that Gazprom delivered to Naftogaz after 2010, which the Ukrainian holding values at $6 billion.
On the same day, Gazprom filed an arbitration lawsuit against Naftogaz to secure repayment of debt totaling $4.5 billion for gas delivered.
The Stockholm court combined the two suits into one. Kyiv expects an interim ruling on the gas contracts before year-end, which would enable it to receive gas from Russia at the interim price.
In addition, on Oct. 13 Naftogaz filed a lawsuit seeking revision of the gas transit contract with Gazprom, as well as compensation for shortfalls in gas transit volumes.
