”Gazprom” threatens to stop paying for gas transit through Ukraine, because “Naftogaz” sued it

Russiaʼs Gazprom threatens Naftogaz with sanctions due to the arbitration initiated by the Ukrainian company. The monopolist threatens to stop paying for gas transit through Ukraine.

This was reported by the press service of Gazprom.

"Naftogaz" demands from "Gazprom" to fulfill the "pump or pay" condition fixed in the contract concluded in December 2019. Now "Gazprom" believes that "the services not provided by the Ukrainian side should not and will not be paid" since "Naftogaz" allegedly "unreasonably refused to fulfill its transit obligations through the Sokhranivka point". At that time, Naftogaz explained that due to the Russian war, a number of objects of the gas transportation system ended up in temporarily occupied territory, so the Operator cannot control these objects at the moment.

The Russian company rejects all claims of Naftogaz for arbitration and has informed the Secretariat of the International Court of Arbitration (ICA) of the International Chamber of Commerce and the head of Naftogaz, Yury Vitrenko.

The monopolist insists that in the event of arbitration, the Russian state authorities will have every reason to impose sanctions against Naftogaz, which will mean a ban for Gazprom from fulfilling its obligations to Naftogaz for the committed transactions, including financial transactions, which will lead to stop payment for transit.

• On September 9, Naftogaz submitted a request for arbitration to the International Court of Arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Paris (France) regarding the actions of Gazprom. The company demands money from the Russians for the provided service of organizing the transportation of natural gas through the territory of Ukraine, which was not paid on time and in full.
• In May, the Operator of the gas transportation system of Ukraine reported that due to hostilities and the occupation of the Luhansk region by Russia, the pumping of gas through the Sokhranivka point and the border compressor station "Novopskov" became impossible.