REUTERS
The decision was taken as a temporary interim measure on Naftogaz's claim.
A Swiss court has banned any payments by Nord Stream AG the owner of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, and Nord Stream 2 AG, the operator of Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline construction, to Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom at a lawsuit filed by NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine.
Read alsoNaftogaz counts $9 mln of Gazprom's overpayments for gas transit as payment for debt
"As a result of the ban, all payments from these companies to Gazprom are sent to Swiss bailiffs," the Russian company said in the document on its Eurobonds on Friday, November 9, as reported by the Ukrainian-language service of Germany's Deutsche Welle (DW).
The decision was taken as a temporary interim measure on the Ukrainian company's claim.
As UNIAN reported earlier, at the end of February 2018, the Russian energy monopoly, Gazprom, lost a lawsuit filed by Naftogaz with Stockholm arbitration on a gas transit contract. Gazprom was obliged to pay $4.6 billion to the Ukrainian side.
At the same time, taking into account the arbitration award on the gas supply contract, the final amount of settlements between the two companies is $2.6 billion in favor of Naftogaz.
Against the backdrop of their loss, Gazprom announced their intention to terminate via court its contracts with Ukraine for the supply and transit of gas. Late in March, Gazprom officially notified Naftogaz of their refusal to comply with the arbitration award.
Late in May, Naftogaz began the process of forcing the $2.6 billion debt from Gazprom in foreign courts. The recovery process is under way in England, Switzerland and the Netherlands. Among the assets of interest to the Ukrainian side are the shares of companies operating the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines.
In early July 2018, Naftogaz filed a new lawsuit with the Stockholm Arbitration requesting a revision of the tariff for the transit of natural gas under a contract with Gazprom.
Naftogaz is demanding a revision of the tariff from March 2018 to the end of 2019 and has tentatively estimated its monetary claims at about $12 billion before interest.