ST. PETERSBURG, January 12. /TASS/. The State Commercial Court for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region has ruled in favor of Gazprom in the latter’s lawsuit against Naftogaz of Ukraine, granting the Russian gas giant’s request that awards by international private arbitration panels be prohibited, TASS reports from the courtroom.

"[The court hereby rules] to prohibit continuation of litigation for joint stock company Naftogaz of Ukraine in the International Court of Arbitration and the International Chamber of Commerce concerning the dispute between Naftogaz of Ukraine and Gazprom," the court ruling said. The court also ordered that Naftogaz pay penalties amounting to about $150 mln to Gazprom if the former is found to be non-compliant with the Russian court’s bar on the continuation of arbitration proceedings.

In fall 2022, Naftogaz of Ukraine filed an arbitration petition with the Paris-based ICC International Court of Arbitration for alleged late payment for gas transportation services over Ukrainian territory. Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller said this arbitration proceeding is illegitimate and therefore it makes no sense for the Russian gas holding company to be a party to it.

The transit pipeline via Ukraine remains the only route for Russian gas supplies to customer countries in Western and Central Europe.