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Naftogaz wants to sue Gazprom over lack of payment for gas transit in June — Sky News

According to the company's CEO Yury Vitrenko, Gazprom was "delaying transit payments for the next month"

LONDON, May 20. /TASS/. CEO of Naftogaz of Ukraine, Yury Vitrenko, announced on Friday that his company may initiate new arbitration proceedings against Gazprom because it had not received payment for gas transit in June.

"It seems like we will have a new arbitration between Gazprom and Naftogaz about transit and transit fees," he said in an interview with the British TV channel Sky News.

Vitrenko also claimed that Gazprom was "delaying transit payments for the next month."

"We have not yet received the money for the next month," said the head of Naftogaz.

Last week, in an interview with the Spiegel magazine, Vitrenko said that Kiev "will collect fees in the International Arbitration Court," if Russia did not pay for gas transit.

Gas transit through Ukrainian territory

On May 10, the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine announced that from May 11 it will stop gas transit to Europe through the Sokhranovka gas compressor station due to force majeure. The company allegedly could not exercise control over the Novopskov compressor station in the Lugansk region. That is why, applications for transportation through this station would be rejected, gas would not be accepted, the company said.

However, Gazprom saw no grounds to stop supplying gas for transit in the previous mode and reported that they had not received any confirmation of the circumstances of the force majeure.

The Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine proposed to transfer all volumes of transit to another entry point - the largest gas distribution station Sudzha in the Kursk region. But Gazprom noted that it was technologically impossible to do based on the Russian flow pattern.

Gazprom also reported that Russian sanctions imposed against a number of foreign energy companies prohibit the holding from using the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline to pump Russian gas through Poland.