Poland Seeking To Seize Nord Stream's Europe Assets In Gas Price Dispute - Deputy Minister

Sumaira FH Published April 28, 2020 | 03:16 PM

Poland will move to seize the European assets of Nord Stream if Russia's Gazprom refuses to implement the ruling of the Stockholm arbitration court on reviewing Russian gas prices for Poland's state energy company, PGNiG, and pay $1.5 billion back to the Polish company, Poland's Deputy Minister of State Assets Janusz Kowalski said

WARSAW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th April, 2020) Poland will move to seize the European assets of Nord Stream if Russia's Gazprom refuses to implement the ruling of the Stockholm arbitration court on reviewing Russian gas prices for Poland's state energy company, PGNiG, and pay $1.5 billion back to the Polish company, Poland's Deputy Minister of State Assets Janusz Kowalski said.

In March, PGNiG said that it had won the case against Gazprom and Gazprom Export in the Stockholm court, and was entitled to receive $1.5 billion back for deliveries conducted between November 1, 2014, and February 29, 2020, after the gas purchase formula was revised in line with the ruling.

"As for me, it would be nice to seize primarily the shares of Nord Stream AG and Nord Stream 2 AG," Kowalski told Wprost magazine in an interview, recalling that Ukraine's Naftogaz did the same during Ukraine's gas dispute with Russia.

The deputy minister expressed hope that this measure would help slow down the construction of the second branch of the Nord Stream 2.

"Secondly, it is necessary to abandon any concessions in relation to Gazprom in the context of receiving of 6 billion zlotys [about 1.5 billion dollars] to which we are entitled," he added.

Last week, PGNiG said that Gazprom had issued invoices for gas deliveries to Poland under old conditions that had been in effect before the ruling of the Stockholm arbitration court. According to the Polish company, Gazprom bypassed the new price conditions in its invoices for gas deliveries in March and the first half of April.

On March 30, Russia's Gazprom Export said it was studying the ruling of the Stockholm arbitration court on reviewing Russian gas prices for PGNiG, adding that it was too early to give any estimate of the amount of the possible pay-off.