The national gas company Naftogaz Ukrainy on April 30 submitted a statement of claim to the Stockholm Arbitration Tribunal in the gas transit arbitration against the Russian gas giant Gazprom.
This arbitration was launched on October 13, 2014, after Naftogaz filed a relevant suit, the company’s press service reported.
On March 5, 2015, the first hearing on procedural matters took place in Stockholm, where April 30, 2015, was determined as the date for Naftogaz to file a claim to Gazprom concerning the transit contract.
“This follows a Statement of Claim against Gazprom in the Gas Supply Arbitration submitted in the end of January this year. The arbitrations are part of a larger effort to open Central and Eastern European gas sales and transport markets to competition and to stop Gazprom’s abuses of its dominant position in such markets,” Naftogaz said in a statement posted on its website.
The statement of claim submitted by Naftogaz says that a number of provisions in the contract, including the tariff provisions, are invalid based on European competition law and related energy law and must be replaced pursuant to provisions in the contract, with retroactive effect.
The company also said it relies on Swedish contract law, which governs the contract. “When the contract was concluded, the parties agreed that it was based on European principles. The Statement of Claim seeks to implement this agreement,” the company said in its statement.
As a consequence of the claims for changing the tariff, Naftogaz also submits a claim for compensation for underpayment for transit to recover losses suffered since 2010.
Besides, Naftogaz submits claims for under-deliveries of gas under the contract based on Gazprom’s violations of its volume commitments.
“Altogether, Naftogaz’s monetary claims related to the transit contract amount to more than $10 . The total monetary claims related to both transit and supply contract amount to more than $16 billion,” the statement reads.
Naftogaz is represented by Norwegian law firm Wikborg Rein in both Arbitrations.
