Naftogaz Ukrainy is ready to discuss the possibility of revising or abandoning the second transit lawsuit worth over $12 billion against Russia’s Gazprom along with the signing of a new long-term contract, Naftogaz Head Andriy Kobolev has said.
“In effect we are saying to our Russian partners: if you build [bypass routes] and don’t want to transport [gas via Ukrainian pipelines] then compensate us. If you want to transport [gas] and are prepared to sign a long-term contract according to European rules, with guarantees that you’ll pay us this money, then we are prepared to drop the claim, or revise it, amend it,” he told Channel Five.
“We’ve communicated this message to the European Commission and have been heard. If the shareholder allows us, we are prepared to put this on the table at talks with Gazprom,” he said.
On June 6, 2018, Naftogaz filed a new lawsuit with Stockholm arbitration seeking to review the gas transit tariff under the contract with Gazprom. Naftogaz is demanding the revision of the tariff from March 2018 and preliminarily estimated its claims at $11.58 billion, excluding interest. Those claims have increased to more than $12 billion in the space of four months, Naftogaz COO Yuriy Vitrenko said in November.
