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Stockholm arbitration rejects Poland's oil company claim to change gas supply price

The arbitration tribunal agreed with arguments of Gazprom Export

MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/. The Stockholm Arbitration Tribunal rejected the claim of Poland’s energy company PGNiG to change the price of natural gas supplied by Gazprom Export, the export subsidiary of Gazprom said on Monday.

"The arbitration tribunal agreed with arguments of Gazprom Export and completely rejected the price change for PGNiG according to the claim made by that company in the course of proceedings," Gazprom Export said.

The relevant decision of the Stockholm Court was received on June 29, the company said.

In particular, the tribunal acknowledged that PGNiG can claim review of the gas price in case of significant changes on the market but disagreed with the method of price change and the price formula suggested by the Polish company. Furthermore, the court did not agree with PGNiG argument that hub prices are the only relevant factor for pricing in long-term contracts.

"The tribunal will make the final decision subject to conclusions and principles set forth by the interim decision and after further consultations with parties," the Russian company said.

Historical background

Poland is consuming about 15 bln cubic meters annually. Domestic production is about one third and the remaining volume is imported. Russia’s Gazprom is the main supplier of natural gas to Poland. The country can purchase 10.2 bln cubic meters of gas per year on the basis of the long-term contract.

The parties negotiated the 10% gas price cut in 2012. Poland’s PGNiG filed a claim against Gazprom to the arbitration court in Stockholm in the gas price reduction case in 2015. Warsaw believes that the gas price is overstated in the effective contract and does not correspond to the situation on the European energy market.

Poland’s authorities said earlier that the country is attempting to find a replacement to gas supplies from Russia by 2022, when the long-term contract with Gazprom will expire.