GAZPROM INITIATED LITIGATION WITH POLISH COMPANIES

The Arbitration Court in St. Petersburg accepted Gazprom's claim against four foreign enterprises. The application was received on March 4, 2024. Two days later, Judge Svetlana Saltykova issued a ruling on the case (No. A56-20124/2024), scheduling the trial for April 10, 2024. The amount of the claims and the grounds for the upcoming litigation are not yet known.

Europol Gaz, Orlen and two other companies appear as defendants in the case. Earlier, the arbitration has already recovered $ 1.5 billion in favor of Gazprom Export from one of the firms. The foreign company must pay this amount if it violates the court's ban on the continuation of the litigation, which the participants are conducting at the arbitration institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce.

In May 2023, the Deputy Prime Minister of Poland spoke about the demands to Gazprom from Europol Gaz in the amount of 6 billion zlotys (approximately $2.3 billion). The debt originated in 2010. The Polish side agreed not to claim the debt if fuel supplies through the pipeline continue until 2045.

The Polish authorities attribute their claim, filed through the Stockholm arbitration, to the lost profits not received by Europol Gaz in connection with the suspension of fuel transportation by the Russian side. According to Sasin, Polish companies may demand about 5 billion zlotys or an additional $1.2 billion from Gazprom.

Recall that since April 2023 Gazprom has been under Polish sanctions. The assets of the Russian company were frozen. After that, restrictive measures were imposed on Polish structures as a retaliatory measure. Supplies via the Yamal–Europe gas pipeline have been stopped.

According to Prime, in October 2023, the Polish authorities transferred part of the gas pipeline and Gazprom's frozen assets to the Orlen concern. His share in the joint venture with Europol Gaz was 48%. In November, it was taken over by the Polish authorities under external control.