Gazprom Loses Polish Gas Price Appeal

The Svea court of appeal in Stockholm has rejected an appeal by Gazprom to set aside a partial arbitration award in a dispute over pricing terms in the Russian company's long-term gas supply contract with Poland's PGNiG.

The partial award by Stockholm's arbitration tribunal in 2018 recognised that PGNiG's request four years earlier to adjust prices was valid. The tribunal issued its final award in March this year, ordering Gazprom to pay $1.5bn to PGNiG and revise pricing terms to better reflect trends on the European gas market.

The Svea court said Gazprom's complaint was inadmissible and has been rejected, PGNiG said in a statement on December 23. The tribunal's ruling is therefore final, it said, adding that the court had also ordered Gazprom to reimburse PGNiG's legal costs.

"This is another success of PGNiG in the dispute over gas prices under the Yamal contract," the Polish company's president Pawel Majewski said. "We have consistently argued that Gazprom's complaint was groundless, and now the court of appeal's ruling confirms our position."

Gazprom has not commented on the matter.