Gazprom refuses to pay compensation to Ukraine

Russian Gazprom refuses to pay compensation to Naftogaz of Ukraine, which was provided to this state-owned company by the Arbitration Tribunal in Stockholm, the press service of Naftogaz said on Tuesday, recalling that it is almost 2.6 billion US dollars.

According to the Ukrainian company, representatives of Gazprom during the meeting proposed changes in contracts with Naftogaz, which, according to the Ukrainian side, contradict the verdicts of the Stockholm Tribunal or violation of these contracts. Naftogaz rejected such a possibility, - it was announced in the communique.

At the end of February, the Stockholm Arbitration Court granted Naftogaz $ 4.63 billion in compensation for Gazprom, without providing the agreed volume of gas for transit. The Ukrainian company announced that, given the first decree that Naftogaz must pay off its debts to Gazprom, it ultimately owes $ 2.56 billion from Gazprom.

On March 1, Gazprom refused to supply Ukraine with gas needed to maintain adequate pressure on pipelines leading to Western Europe. The Ukrainians were forced to cut consumption by 14 percent in order not to take fuel from underground tanks for Western contractors. Kiev estimates that the Russians triggered the gas crisis in response to a verdict from Stockholm.

Since the fall of 2015, Ukraine has not bought gas from Russia, but has been buying it from suppliers from the European Union, including Poland. Ukraine also sends Russian blue fuel through its gas pipelines to the West.