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National oil and gas holding company Naftogaz of Ukraine does not intend to pay a $5.3 billion bill issued by the Russian gas monopoly Gazprom for refusing to buy gas from Gazprom in 2016 under the contract of 2009, contested by Ukraine in the Stockholm arbitration, Naftogaz press service wrote on Facebook.
"We do not plan to pay Gazprom’s $5.3 billion bill for gas, which was [we] did not order and did not receive during 2016. Gazprom refers to the "take or pay" terms. But our position remains unchanged: a court of arbitration will decide whether they should be applied," the statement says.
Read also Naftogaz warns of provocations by Gazprom amid low temperaturesIn turn, Director for Business Development at Naftogaz Yuriy Vitrenko said that in 2016, Ukraine paid for all the gas imported from Europe some $1.6 billion, which is 3 times less than Gazprom billed Naftogaz.
"Had we paid as much as Gazprom wants, the Ukrainian GDP in 2016 would not have increased by 1.5%, but fallen by 2.5% ... This is the real outcome of our actions. In particular, [the outcome of] us having created the opportunity to obtain the necessary volumes of gas imports from Europe. So now, Gazprom is not in a position to blackmail us with the cessation of gas supplies. We spend on imported gas three times less money, while remaining in litigation with Gazprom in the Stockholm arbitration," he wrote.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce in October-December 2016 held a hearing into the gas dispute between NJSC Naftogaz Ukraine and Gazprom on the terms of the contract signed between the companies in 2009. The dispute concerned the formula gas prices, terms of gas payments and gas transit conditions.
The mutual claims of the parties reach tens of billions of dollars. The Stockholm arbitration court is expected to hand down a ruling on the gas dispute in the first half of 2017.
January 17, Gazprom informed that it had put forward a $3 billion bill to Naftogaz of Ukraine for its failure to take the gas in 2Q-4Q 2016, under the "take or pay" deal.
It is not the first time Gazprom bills Naftogaz, referring to a paragraph of the contract of 2009, which, according to the Russian company, contains a "take or pay" clause. These bills have never been accepted for payment, since Naftogaz claims they do not correspond to the contract. Moreover, there is a requirement for recognition of this paragraph null and void among the claims submitted by Naftogaz.