The court of the Astana International Financial Centre in Kazakhstan has authorized the compulsory recovery of Gazprom assets in favor of Ukraine’s Naftogaz in the amount of $1.4 billion. Naftogaz’s press service reported this.
Background of the dispute
In 2019, Gazprom and Naftogaz signed an agreement on organizing the transportation of natural gas through Ukraine. In May 2022, because of hostilities, gas transit through the Sokhranovka station became impossible.
Naftogaz then continued transit through the Sudzha entry point, but Gazprom reportedly refused to fully pay for the services provided. The Ukrainian company subsequently filed a claim with an arbitral tribunal.
In June of last year, a court in Switzerland found Gazprom liable and ordered it to pay the debt, interest, and legal costs. In August, a Russian arbitrazh court barred Naftogaz from enforcing foreign court decisions against Gazprom. In January, a Swiss court rejected Gazprom’s appeal.
After winning in court, Naftogaz launched an international campaign to recover assets in multiple jurisdictions.
The ruling in Kazakhstan
The Kazakh court ordered Gazprom to pay Naftogaz $1.13 billion in principal, $182 million in interest, and $117 million in penalty interest for late payment. The Russian company must also reimburse arbitration costs of 4.9 million euros, as well as interest.
Gazprom has not yet commented on the ruling.
According to Forbes, this is the first publicly known case of this decision being recognized in a foreign jurisdiction. At the same time, Mediazona notes that it remains unclear what assets Gazprom holds in Kazakhstan and whether they are sufficient to enforce the ruling.