MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian court has increased to $1.3 billion from around $150 million a financial penalty against Ukraine’s state energy company Naftogaz over its pursuit of international arbitration to settle a gas transit dispute with Gazprom, Russian news agencies reported on Wednesday.
Naftogaz did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
The St Petersburg region court acted against Naftogaz last year – more than two years into Russia’s war with Ukraine – over a five-year gas transit deal that expired on January 1, 2025, after which Russia halted gas exports to Europe via Ukraine.
In May 2022 Ukraine stopped gas transit via the Sokhranovka metering station, declaring “force majeure”, a clause invoked when a business is hit by some factor beyond its control. That left only one entry point for transit of Russian gas – Sudzha in Russia’s southern Kursk region near the Ukrainian border.
Russia’s Interfax news agency said Gazprom also stopped payments for transit via Sokhranovka, while Naftogaz had initiated international arbitration.
Gazprom is fighting off numerous legal cases, with combined claims of around 18.5 billion euros ($20 billion) from European companies, according to Reuters calculations based on court documents.
At the same time, Gazprom has launched reciprocal counter-claims in Russia. Gazprom has already won 10 out of 14 enforcement orders for claims from defendants in Russia.
(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Mark Heinrich)
