MOSCOW, May 7. /TASS/. Germany’s Uniper concern admits that the ruling by a Russian court prohibiting the company’s subsidiary from continuing the arbitration proceedings against Gazprom Export abroad may allow the Russian company enforce Uniper’s assets within Russia and possibly even outside of the country, Uniper said in a report.
"On March 13, 2024, a Russian court issued an interim injunction against Uniper in favor of Gazprom Export, according to which Uniper is prohibited from continuing the arbitration proceedings initiated against Gazprom Export, otherwise a fine worth billions of euros must be paid to Gazprom Export. Uniper considers the court decision to be a violation of international law and the principle of a fair trial and has filed an appeal against the ruling in Russia," the report said.
The title will allow Gazprom Export to enforce Uniper assets within Russia and possibly even outside of Russia, the company noted. "Uniper is examining the impact on the Group’s risk and chances situation as well as any further legal steps. Based on a very early, preliminary assessment, the potential enforcement of the title against Uniper assets is not assessed as a major individual risk," according to the report.
Earlier, the Court of Arbitration of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region sustained Gazprom Export’s claim against German traders Uniper Global Commodities SE and Metha-Methanhandel GmbH banning continuation of international arbitration proceedings. In the event of violation of the ban, the court ruled to recover 14.3 bln euros from German companies in favor of Gazprom.
In late November 2022, it became known that the German concern Uniper filed a lawsuit against Gazprom Export to compensate for losses incurred from the short supply of Russian gas. Uniper then estimated the current costs of replacing Russian gas at no less than 11.6 bln euros. The Russian company, in turn, stated that it was studying the received statement of claim from Uniper, but it did not recognize the violation of contracts and the legality of the German company’s stated claims for damages.
Uniper considered the force majeure declared by Gazprom on gas supplies to be a violation of the contract. Since the end of August 2022, the German concern has completely stopped receiving gas from Russia and it considers this a violation of contractual obligations on the part of Gazprom. Uniper stated that it did not expect the resumption of Russian gas supplies and it was awaiting a decision in the court case with Gazprom Export due to their termination in 2024.