Ukraine began the arrest of the assets "Gazprom"

The Ukrainian authorities began to arrest the assets of the Russian company Gazprom for non -compliance with the verdict of the Stockholm arbitration on transit dispore with Naftogaz. This was reported on the official website of the Government of Ukraine.

“In this case, a description and arrest of assets belonging to Gazprom in Ukraine began,” the report said. Enforcement proceedings in the case are conducted by the Department of State Executive Service of the Ministry of Justice of the country.

The list of arrested assets of the energy monopolist included the property of the Gazprom STITRASIC of Ukraine, the International Consortium for the Management and Development of the Gas Transport System of Ukraine, as well as securities of the YuzhniyigiproGaz Institute OJSC and Gaztransit JSC.

The company "Ukrainian Expert Group" was involved in assessing the value of securities. According to her, the cost of shares of Gaztransit JSC is 630.7 million hryvnias (1.3 billion rubles). These shares should be sold at open auctions.

On March 7, the Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman instructed the country's Ministry of Justice to coordinate work with Naftogaz for the possible arrest of Gazprom’s assets outside Russia in case the company does not comply with the verdict of the Stockholm Arbitration Court. He emphasized that Gazprom also must comply with the requirement of the antimonopoly body of Ukraine and the decision of Ukrainian courts. In January 2016, the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) imposed a fine on Gazprom for abuse of a monopoly position in the natural gas market in the amount of almost 86 billion hryvnias ($ 3.2 billion). For the year, taking into account the penalty, the amount doubled. Gazprom tried to challenge the decision of the AMCU, but the courts of all instances recognized the legitimacy of the requirements of Ukraine.

The Russian and Ukrainian sides are arguing in the Stockholm arbitration on two issues regarding the price and volume of gas supply, as well as tariffs and conditions of transit of Russian gas through Ukraine. In December 2017, the court issued a decision on the first part of the dispute, obliging Naftogaz to pay Gazprom $ 2 billion for gas delivered to Ukraine and interest for delay. The Russian company demanded repaying overdue debts and paying fines of $ 56 billion, RBC reports.

At the end of February, the Arbitration already ordered Gazprom to pay Naftogaz $ 4.63 billion for a gas shortage under a transit agreement. The amount of payments of the Ukrainian side, including debt, amounted to $ 2.65 billion.

Despite the receipt of the payment of Naftogaz, Gazprom refused to resume gas supply to Ukraine on March 1. Alexander Medvedev explained such a decision, the deputy chairman of the company's board explained the lack of an approved additional agreement to the contract. In response to this, the head of the Ukrainian company Andrei Kobolev said that he would demand compensation for losses from Gazprom.

After that, the head of Gazprom Alexei Miller said that the company intends to terminate all contracts concluded with Kiev. He emphasized that the decision of the Stockholm arbitration violated the interests of the Russian company. On March 3, Gazprom launched the procedure for stopping cooperation.

The Ukrainian authorities believe that Gazprom’s initiative to terminate contracts with Kiev is bluff and political game. According to the deputy head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Elena Mirror, Moscow’s behavior will change after the presidential election in the Russian Federation, since Gazprom needs to solve the issue of gas transit to Europe and prove its reliability as a supplier. Ukrainian Pravda writes.

Meanwhile, the lawsuit of Gazprom and Naftogaz has been stretching for several years. The trial of gas debts went to Stockholm arbitration from June 2014 to December 2017, and the court of judicial dispute under the transit contract proceeded from October 2014 to February 2018.