TASS: Russian court rules in favor of Gazprom Export in dispute with Czech NET4GAS

The St. Petersburg Arbitration Court has upheld a complaint filed by Russian company Gazprom Export against Czech gas pipeline operator NET4GAS. The arbitration court prohibited the Czech company from continuing arbitration proceedings concerning its dispute with the Russian company before a court in the Czech Republic. The TASS news agency reported this today. The St. Petersburg court also ruled that NET4GAS would have to pay the Russian company 112.96 million euros (CZK 2.9 billion) if it violated the ruling. The Czech News Agency (ČTK) is seeking comment from the company.

„The Arbitration Court ruled: to prohibit NET4GAS from continuing proceedings in this case before the Arbitration Court at the Chamber of Commerce of the Czech Republic. If NET4GAS fails to comply with the ruling of the Arbitration Court of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, 112,959.000 euros, payable in rubles at the Russian Central Bank exchange rate on the day of payment, shall be awarded to Gazprom Export,“ TASS quoted the Russian court’s ruling as saying.

The ruling may be appealed to the Russian Arbitration Court of the Northwestern District.

In February, TASS reported that legal proceedings had been launched in St. Petersburg. NET4GAS told ČTK at the time that it had not yet received official information, had only seen the report in the media, and would therefore not comment for the time being.

At the beginning of last year, NET4GAS said it had not received the latest monthly payments owed to it under contracts with its main Russian partner. It did not name the Russian company at the time.