Naftogaz clarifies stance on Gazprom, says owed more than $2.56 bln

KIEV,  (Reuters) - Ukraine’s Naftogaz clarified its stance on negotiations with Gazprom by saying that the Russian gas producer must pay it more than $2.56 billion.

“As we told Gazprom at the tripartite meeting, an amicable agreement on the decision already taken by the arbitration court is not possible,” Yuriy Vitrenko, Naftogaz’s chief commercial officer, wrote on Facebook.

“In line with the (Stockholm court) arbitration decisions, Gazprom must pay us $2.56 billion plus $75 million in interest, as well as compensate for the costs of compulsory recovery,” he said.

Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev this week was quoted as saying Gazprom’s talk of reaching an amicable agreement was “just a waste of time” but that Naftogaz was prepared to consider it.

Ukraine and Russia have clashed over gas supply and pricing for years and relations have deteriorated since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

Kiev no longer buys gas from Gazprom but the Russian company still pipes gas across Ukraine to Europe.

Naftogaz and Gazprom this week held a European Union-mediated meeting in Berlin on a new transit deal but the talks have been complicated by their lengthy legal dispute.

A Stockholm court in February awarded Naftogaz $4.63 billion in damages but also ordered it to pay $2 billion to Gazprom and to resume purchases.

This month Naftogaz said it had submitted a new claim to the Stockholm arbitration court for more than $11 billion from Gazprom related to a transit contract. (Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; editing by Jason Neely)

 

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