NET4GAS has achieved success in an arbitration court in a dispute with the Russian company Gazprom, according to the press service of the Czech company.
NET4GAS has reportedly gone to court in the Czech Republic because the Russian company allegedly owed it rent for the gas pipelines. According to the arbitration decision, Gazprom is obliged to pay the debt, including late payment interest and court costs.
“In its decision, the arbitration commission agreed with N4G’s arguments and accepted its claim in full, i.e. it ordered GPE to pay the amount claimed together with late payment interest and reimbursement of court costs. N4G is now considering its next steps regarding the possibility of collecting the amount owed.” – the company reported.
Recall that Gazprom leased gas pipelines in the Czech Republic in order to be able to supply gas from northern Germany to the south, to Austria and Slovakia. However, after the destruction of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, Russian gas stopped reaching the Czech Republic and some transit routes remained unused. As a result, NET4GAS, which has been in state hands since 2023, announced multi-million-dollar losses. Disputes between Gazprom and the Czech company have been ongoing since January 2023, when NET4GAS reported that Gazprom Export had not received the last monthly payments for the use of the gas transportation system, as provided for in the contracts. Therefore, NET4GAS decided to initiate arbitration proceedings against the Russian gas supplier. However, in March 2024, Gazprom counterattacked and filed a lawsuit against NET4GAS in the St. Petersburg court. The court then ruled that in case of violation of its decision, the Czech company must pay the Russian company 112.96 million euros. In addition, the St. Petersburg court prohibited the Czech company from continuing the arbitration procedure on a dispute with this Russian company before the Czech court. In response, NET4GAS filed an appeal in cassation to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation against the ban on continuing the procedure with the Russian gas company abroad.
