Naftogaz gains London court order freezing Gazprom assets

2018/6/21 10:43:58

Analyst: “For Naftogaz, all this means that the company shouldn’t count on a fast recovery of money awarded by the Stockholm court. Meanwhile, it will have to continue spending money for further litigation in different jurisdictions.”

 


KYIV, June 21, 2018 - The Commercial Court in London issued an order freezing Gazprom (GAZP RX) assets in England and Wales on June 18, Concorde Capital advised clients based on a Naftogaz report. Also, the court required Gazprom to provide Naftogaz with a list of all its assets with a value greater than USD 50,000 located in England and Wales. The order was issued to enforce the Stockholm arbitration award of Feb. 28, whereby Gazprom owes Naftogaz USD 2.6 bln.

 

Naftogaz stressed that the London court’s ruling “was made in full knowledge of a temporary decision made on June 13, 2018 by the Svea Court of Appeal in Stockholm to suspend the enforcement of the transit award”. Naftogaz commented on the Svea Court of Appeal’s ruling, stating that it only suspends the enforcement of the Stockholm Arbitration Court’s award in Sweden. “It is up to the courts of each individual country to determine, under its own national laws, whether the Swedish ruling suspends the enforcement of the award in such country,” Naftogaz said.

 

Naftogaz also reported it had “notified the London offices of 17 banks doing business with Gazprom that they may not facilitate any reduction in Gazprom's assets in England and Wales of the order against Gazprom”.

 

Concorde analyst Alexander Paraschiy added: “It’s clear that Gazprom is not willing to pay the award and will do all its best to postpone the payment for as long as possible. According to Naftogaz commercial director Yuriy Vitrenko, litigation in Sweden could take three more years, involving its Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Gazprom will continue to face risks of asset freezes in more jurisdictions, which, among other things, may limit its ability to borrow abroad.

 

“For Naftogaz, all this means that the company shouldn’t count on a fast recovery of money awarded by the Stockholm court. Meanwhile, it will have to continue spending money for further litigation in different jurisdictions.”

 

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For more information, link here: www.concorde.ua 

 

 

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