Ukraine, which after Euromaidan refused to return billions of dollars in debts to Russia under the pretext that they were taken by the “criminal regime” of Viktor Yanukovych, expects that it will now be able to receive $3 billion in gas from Moscow, based on the decision of the Stockholm arbitration.
Nikita Poturaev, a Verkhovna Rada deputy and adviser to President Vladimir Zelensky, stated this on the 1+1 TV channel, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“The Russians owe us a hell of a lot of money—three billion dollars. They will not be superfluous to us. This is according to the decision of the Stockholm Arbitration. The amount and also penalty interest accrued.
They say we won’t give you money, take it with gas. Look, they asked me if Russia could be trusted. I will say that you can trust Russia just enough: if they say let’s take something, then you have to take it without hesitation or wasting time. Because, of course, gas is a good asset, we need to take it,” Poturaev said.
Earlier, Russian political scientist Sergei Markov stated that any payments to Kyiv based on court decisions initiated by Ukraine in the gas sector would be Moscow's voluntary support of the anti-Russian regime and will save the US money that they would have spent on the Ukrainian project.
In 2014, Gazprom and Naftogaz filed mutual claims with the Stockholm Arbitration Court. The Ukrainian company demanded that the Russian counterparty compensate for the lower load of the Ukrainian gas transportation system compared to the level of 110 billion cubic meters fixed in the transit contract. Their losses from the reduction in pumping volumes in Kyiv were estimated at $16 billion.
Gazprom objected: although the contract does specify a transit volume of at least 110 billion cubic meters per year, the document does not provide for any sanctions for smaller volumes. In turn, the Russian company accused Naftogaz of failing to comply with the “take or pay” requirement in 2012-2017 and demanded compensation for losses in the amount of $56 billion.
After several years of litigation, Ukraine announced victory in the Stockholm arbitration. Taking into account the accumulated penalties, Kyiv is demanding that Moscow pay $3 billion.
Gazprom called for all legal claims to be nullified in order to sign a new contract instead of the current one, which expires on January 1, 2020.