Ukraine and Russia are in disagreement again, with Naftogaz handing Gazprom an order to freeze assets in England and Wales.
Ukrainian Naftogaz said the commercial court in London issued the order to enforce this year’s Stockholm arbitration ruling, which said that Gazprom owed Naftogaz US$2.6 billion.
The ruling in Sweden was supposed to end a legal dispute over gas deliveries, but Naftogaz said the Russian gas-export monopoly had ignored the decision.
The court in London issued an order also requires Gazprom to provide Naftogaz with a list of all assets with a value greater than US$50,000 in England or Wales.
“Within 48 hours of receiving the order, Gazprom must provide Naftogaz with a list of all its assets with a value greater than US$50,000 located in England or Wales,” Naftogaz announced.
It was not clear what assets Gazprom has in England and Wales that could be affected. Gazprom Marketing and Trading has its headquarters in London and said it had more than 450 staff.
Gazprom said it had won an interim appeals court ruling in Sweden that suspended attempts by Naftogaz to seize its overseas assets.
Naftogaz has said it would ask for the decision to be reversed.
“The Swedish court ruling does not suspend the award itself, it only suspends enforcement in Sweden,” Naftogaz chief executive Andriy Kobolyev said.
“The transit award remains valid, and interest continues to accrue and we will seek enforcement in jurisdictions where enforcement is an option.”
Kobolyev said: “The transit award remains valid and interest continues to accrue and we will seek enforcement in jurisdictions where enforcement is an option.”
Gazprom replied that it would “continue defending its rights”.
Iran
Gazprom says it is moving closer to the development of several Iranian gas projects, including one that can liquefy natural gas for export.
According to Russia’s media, Vitaly Markelov, Gazprom’s deputy chairman, said documents would soon be presented to the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC).
Markelov said the projects included Kish, Farzad-A, Farzad-B gas fields and the South Pars site, in which France’s Total has invested heavily and might soon withdraw from amid impending US sanctions.
Kish is believed to be one of Iran’s biggest gas fields with an estimated 1.3 trillion cubic metres of natural gas and more than 500 million barrels of gas condensate about 30km east of Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf.
Farzad A and B in the Gulf and are jointly shared with Saudi Arabia.
Gazprom has been trying to bypass Ukraine with two other pipelines. Picture credit: YouTube
