Naftogaz to pay €1.3 million to Norwegian law firm for legal advice in suit vs. Gazprom

Ukraine’s national oil and gas company Naftogaz intends to hire Norway-based law firm Wikborg, Rein & Co as a legal advisor to defend its interests in a lawsuit against Russia’s Gazprom at the Stockholm Arbitrary Court. This says a message by Naftogaz on the web-portal of state purchases.

In particular, according to the document, the accepted offer is worth €1.3 million.

 According to parliament-appointed Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Ukraine is ready to pay Russiafor the purchased natural gas, “but we need to sign bilateral agreements to pay our liabilities”. Meanwhile, Kiev insists on price reduction for the supplied gas. “If until the 29th the agreement is not signed, this will mean we will meet with Gazprom in Stockholm, at court,” Yatsenyuk stressed.

To date, Naftogaz’s debt for Russian gas makes $3.5 billion. However, Ukraine and the European Commission do not deny the debt volume of 2.237 billion, which accumulated by April 1, before Moscow canceled the discount. Since April 1, Gazprom has raised the gas price for Naftogaz from $268.5 for 1,000 cu. m to $485.5, cancelling all the discounts. One of them was provided in December 2013 and was cancelled because Kiev did not pay the debt and failed to provide timely payment for gas supplies. The other discount was stipulated by the Kharkiv agreements of 2010 and was abolished due to Crimea’s reunification with Russia.