MOSCOW, June 5. /TASS/. Gazprom has been informed about the actions Naftogaz of Ukraine is taking in the Netherlands to enforce the ruling of the Stockholm Arbitration court dated February 28, 2018 in the dispute over its gas transit contract, the Russian company said in a statement.
Gazprom will be able to provide detailed comments on this issue only after a thorough examination of the documents, if they are officially delivered to the company’s address. To date, Gazprom has not received any official notification of this procedure. Gazprom will defend its rights in accordance with the applicable legislation, the company vowed.
On June 5, Naftogaz announced that the court in the Netherlands had upheld its petition seeking the seizure of Gazprom’s stakes in Dutch subsidiaries and the debt of these subsidiaries.
Naftogaz noted that the petitions were filed to secure its right to recover $2.6 bln from Gazprom under the Stockholm Arbitration ruling, adopted in February 2018.
"The Dutch court upheld these petitions, but six of the seven subsidiaries of Gazprom in the Netherlands refused to cooperate with judicial executors," according to Naftogaz’s press release.
At the same time, the Ukrainian company notes that this "does not affect the seizure."
The Ukrainian company also reminded that it has initiated the seizure of assets in other jurisdictions, in particular Gazprom’s stakes in Nord Stream AG and Nord Stream 2 AG.
According to Gazprom’s report, the following subsidiaries are registered in Amsterdam: Gazprom Finance B.V., Gazprom EP International B.V. (implements projects outside Russia, participates in 40 projects in 20 countries), Gazprom Sakhalin Holdings B.V. (owns 50% of Sakhalin Energy, which is the operator of Russia's first LNG production project, Sakhalin-2), South Stream Transport B.V. (operator of the construction of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline, scheduled for commissioning by the end of 2019), Gazprom Gerosgaz Holdings B.V., Gazprom Holding Cooperatie U.A., Blue Stream Pipeline Company B.V. (which is a 50/50 joint venture by Gazprom and Italian Eni for the construction of the Blue Stream gas pipeline that was commissioned in 2003)
Legal battle
On February 28, 2018, the Stockholm Arbitration court handed down a final decision on the dispute between Gazprom and Naftogaz regarding the contract on gas transit via Ukraine.
On March 29, 2018, Gazprom challenged the ruling of the Stockholm Arbitration in the Svea County Court of Appeal and demanded its partial reversal citing serious procedural violations.
On May 28, 2018, Gazprom submitted an appeal to the court to fully overturn the arbitration ruling.
On May 29, Gazprom was informed that Naftogaz of Ukraine was taking action in Switzerland to enforce the decision of the Stockholm Arbitration in the dispute over gas transit contract. So far, Gazprom has not received any official notifications on this matter.
On May 30, Ukraine’s President Pyotr Poroshenko said that the enforcement against Gazprom in Switzerland, the UK and the Netherlands had already been initiated within the framework of arbitration proceedings enforcement. At the same time, Naftogaz’ commercial director Yuri Vitrenko vowed to recover the $2.6 bln from Gazprom during this year as part of the arbitration battle.