Court freezes Gazprom stakes in Dutch companies on Naftogaz claim
6 June 2018
A Dutch court ruled in favor of petitions that had
been filed by Ukraine’s Naftogaz last week to freeze Gazprom’s Dutch
subsidiaries, Naftogaz reported on June 5. The claims were filed to secure
Naftogaz’s right to payment of USD 2.6 bln by Gazprom pursuant to the Stockholm arbitration award of February 2018.
“Naftogaz will use all legitimate measures and tools available to us to enforce
the decision and fully recover the amount awarded from Gazprom,” the Ukrainian
company’s CEO Andriy Kobolyev commented.
Gazprom did not comment to the media on the asset
freeze, while Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak commented that Naftogaz’s
move won’t have positive effect on cooperation between the Russian and
Ukrainian monopolies. “Measures taken by Ukrainian colleagues … won’t lead to
positive solutions of further cooperation and discussions of future deals on
transit and supply of Russian gas to Ukraine,” Novak commented to Russian
media.
Alexander Paraschiy: With more
than three months having passed since the Stockholm arbitration award, Gazprom
has not yet agreed on a means of repaying the awarded amount to Naftogaz.
Therefore, it’s logical that Naftogaz is taking tough measures to force Gazprom
to pay. It is hard to estimate how long it will take for Naftogaz to recover
the USD 2.6 bln compensation, but the intention of the Ukrainian company looks
serious, meaning Gazprom won’t be able to avoid the payment.
